“The interconnectedness of the American Muslim community and its more than 1 million registered voters makes Muslims a strong and increasingly critical voice in American politics.”
“The interconnectedness of the American Muslim community and its more than 1 million registered voters makes Muslims a strong and increasingly critical voice in American politics.”
A newly released study by the Council on American Islamic Relations shows that Muslim Americans have voted for US Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders by a more than 2 to 1 margin when compared to the next nearest rival, former Vice President Joe Biden. After sampling almost 600 households across all 13 Super Tuesday states, CAIR found that Muslim Americans are overwhelmingly voting for and supporting Senator Bernie Sanders.
CAIR Releases Results of #Muslim Voter #SuperTuesday2020 Exit Poll (#MuslimsVote)
Majority of American Muslims voted for Bernie Sanders, followed by Joe Biden, Michael Bloomberghttps://t.co/K24bBdvjjy#JoeBiden #BernieSanders #ElizabethWarren #MichaelBloomberg #Elections2020 pic.twitter.com/vkpgPOAVr4— CAIR National (@CAIRNational) March 5, 2020
According to the new report, 58.2% voted for Senator Sanders, while only 26% voted for Biden. CAIR’s Government Affairs Director Robert McCaw stated in regards to the new findings:
These survey results show exactly why several 2020 presidential candidates have made unprecedented attempts to court American Muslims voters. The interconnectedness of the American Muslim community and its more than 1 million registered voters makes Muslims a strong and increasingly critical voice in American politics.”
Sanders has the support of numerous high-profile Muslim politicians, including Minnesota Representative Ilhan Omar and Michigan Representative Rashida Tlaib. He also has the support of Linda Sarsour, a prominent Palestinian Muslim human rights activist based in New York.
Biden, on the other hand however, has drawn recent criticism after hiring Amit Jani as his campaign’s Asian American Pacific Islander national vote director. Jani has been a public supporter of Indian Prime Minister Modi, who has been widely condemned by human rights groups for his political party’s growing Islamophobia and right-wing fascism in the country.
Imraan Siddiqi, CAIR’s Arizona chapter director, has stated in regards to Biden hiring Jani: “As an Indian-American, who’s seeing the humanitarian crisis imposed on Kashmir by the Modi government, it is truly troubling to see Biden elevating someone who is in support of this now bordering on fascist regime in a leadership position”.
CAIR also has found in its new survey that the most popular campaign issues from Sanders for Muslim Americans were his plan of Medicare-for-All, raising the minimum wage, and government investments in more affordable housing.
The full CAIR report can be found here.
