Arab American and Muslim American leaders are blasting President Trump’s proposal to take over Gaza, warning that it’s antithetical to their beliefs and amounts to ethnic cleansing.

The backlash comes after Trump made significant inroads among these groups’ voters in the November election, peeling them away from the Democratic Party, which has been their home for decades, in the wake of the Israel-Hamas war.

But while these leaders have no kind words for Trump’s plans, they’re also pointing blame at both former President Biden and former Vice President Harris for allowing the conflict to continue and not taking the opportunity to convince voters that they were a better alternative.

“You got to remember that Donald Trump today is talking about moving Palestinians out of Gaza because they have no homes,” said Yousef Munayyer, the head of the Palestine/Israel program and a senior fellow at the Arab Center Washington DC. “They have no homes because of Joe Biden's policy. And this is less a shift from one administration to the next than a continuation.”

Considered a solid part of the Democratic coalition throughout much of the 21st century, Muslim and Arab American voters seem to be without a clear political home in the aftermath of the 2024 race. Polling from the Arab American Institute and the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) showed a clear drop in support among members of these communities for Harris during her presidential bid, considerably lower than had been for other recent Democratic tickets.

While Harris softened some of Biden’s stances on the war and expressed more solidarity for the plight of Palestinians, she avoided promises to place conditions on aid to Israel, a top demand for her detractors.

And an exit poll from CAIR released just after Election Day found 53 percent of American Muslims nationally voted for Green Party candidate Jill Stein, while 21 percent voted for Trump and 20 percent voted........

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