Young Michigan voter says he may abandon Biden, claims president cares less about Muslim American lives
A young Michigan voter said he does not believe President Biden values his life as a Muslim American when compared to other lives.
CNN on Thursday aired a segment in which chief national correspondent John King asked young Michigan voters to discuss their thoughts about Biden and the Israel-Hamas war.
During the interview, Wayne State University student Ibrahim Ghazal said it was "disgusting" that standing up for children and women dying in Gaza is being compared to support for the Hamas terrorist group.
"Holding up a Palestinian flag does not support Hamas. Hamas has their own flag. Nobody's carrying their flag," he said.
"Do you feel this way?" King asked as he held up a newspaper with the words "Abandon Biden."
"To an extent, yes," Ghazal responded. "I feel as though President Biden doesn't value my life as a Muslim American as much as he values other lives."
Summer Matkin, who also attends Wayne State University, said she would still support Biden over former President Donald Trump in 2024 but wished that Biden would appeal to younger Americans.
"I think that weird generational gap is something that is very, very hard for young people. So when there's certain things that we want to be heard, you know, with not only the conflict out with Israeli and Palestinian people, but we also have like student loan forgiveness and all of these financial problems that aren't being handled when they are very much capable of being handled," she said.
When asked, she said she would not rule out a vote for a third-party candidate.
Recent polling data from NBC indicated approximately 70% of young voters disapprove of Biden's handling of the war in Israel.
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University of Michigan student Joseph Fisher helped Biden get elected in 2020 by working with the ACLU to register voters in his home state of Georgia. However, he said he would not vote for the current president a second time around.
Seniors and co-presidents of the College Democrats at Wayne State University, Jade Gray and Anushka Jalisatgi, helped generate a large turnout for the party in 2020 and 2022. They told King that Biden's age is "absolutely" a topic that gets brought up at their weekly meetings.
"It's a real point to make and a real conversation to be had," Gray said.
King asked the two women whether some of their members may sit out or vote for another party in 2024 because of Biden's handling of the conflict in Gaza.
"Some of them, yes, they have shared with us that maybe this is making them reconsider," Jalisatgi said.
A recent NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll found that 48% of Gen Z and millennial respondents considered Israel's military response to be "too much." Overall, 38% of the public shared the same sentiment.
New Fox News, Marist College and Quinnipiac University polls also showed disapproval of Biden's management of the situation among a majority of young adults.
Fox News' Gabriel Hays contributed to this report.