Green Party candidate Jill Stein believes that Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee for the 2024 US presidential election, could lose key swing states due to growing discontent among Arab Americans and Muslims over the US’s support for Israel’s military actions in Gaza and Lebanon.

Polls currently show Stein receiving only 1 percent of the vote, while Harris and her Republican opponent, former President Donald Trump, are nearly tied with 49 percent and 48 percent, respectively. Despite her low polling numbers, Stein has seen an increase in support from Arab American and Muslim communities in battleground states such as Michigan, Arizona, and Wisconsin—states that played a crucial role in President Joe Biden’s victory in 2020.

Speaking at a rally in Dearborn, Michigan, Stein said, “The Democrats have lost the Muslim American and the Arab American vote. They’re going to be losing enough swing states that they will not win and they cannot win.”

A poll from the Cook Political Report, conducted from September 19-25, shows Harris leading or tied with Trump in several critical states, including Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Nevada, Georgia, and North Carolina. However, Stein, who has called for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza and a halt to US arms sales to Israel, garnered 40 percent of the Muslim vote in Michigan, according to a poll by the Council on American-Islamic Relations. The same poll also showed her leading among Muslims in Arizona and Wisconsin.

Stein suggested that Democrats might be able to regain the support of these voters if they pushed for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and Lebanon and ended arms sales to Israel. However, she said there was no indication of any such moves from the Biden administration. While the US, along with allies like France, has called for a ceasefire along the Israel-Lebanon border and has supported a ceasefire in Gaza, concrete agreements have remained out of reach.

When asked whether her candidacy might act as a “spoiler” that could help Trump win, Stein acknowledged the potential consequences of another Trump presidency but argued that both major parties were failing to address urgent issues like rising living costs, ongoing conflicts, and attacks on civil liberties. “There is no lesser evil in this race,” she said.

In response to growing dissatisfaction, Harris has increased her outreach efforts, recently meeting with Arab American and Muslim leaders in Michigan. Her running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, has also participated in a Muslim community call. Meanwhile, Trump is actively courting Arab and Muslim voters as well, having recently opened a campaign office in Hamtramck, Michigan, with the endorsement of Yemeni-American mayor Amer Ghalib.

Stein also pointed out that Harris was losing support among other key groups, including union workers, Black men, and Latinos, who have traditionally backed the Democratic Party. “Working people feel abandoned and betrayed by the Democratic Party,” she said. “The Republicans aren’t doing anything to improve the situation, but because the Democrats make promises and don’t follow through, their traditional base feels punished.”

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