Biden losing 75% of young voters over Gaza war mismanagement: Poll
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The poll, conducted from December 10 to December 14, revealed that 27% of youth sympathize with "Israel" but 47% sympathize with Palestinians.
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A man wearing a mask gathers with a group in support of Black Voters Matter at the Graham Civic Center polling site in Graham, N.C., November 3, 2020. (AP)
The latest poll by the New York Times/Siena College discovered that almost 75% of a sample of young voters aged 18 to 29 do not approve of how US President Joe Biden is handling the war on Gaza. The same believe "Israel" isn't putting in effort to prevent civilian deaths in Gaza and 44% state that "Israel" needs to end the war even if Hamas is not defeated, while 39% said it should go on.
The poll, conducted from December 10 to December 14, revealed that 27% of youth sympathize with "Israel" but 47% sympathize with Palestinians.
Biden's Republican rival, front-runner and former president Donald Trump already has the support of 21% of young people who voted for Biden back in 2020 who sympathize more with Palestine.
Trump leads Biden among young voters by 49% to 43%, and has a 46% to 44% lead among registered voters overall. This follows a Quinnipiac University poll in November that concluded that those under 35 - or 66% - lean more towards disapproving "Israel's" attacks.
Over 40 interns at the White House and other branches of the executive office have already urged Biden to call for a ceasefire in Gaza, as they said he ignored the "pleas of the American people" by not doing so.
Biden was the first to jump the gun in defending "Israel" and give it the green light to execute whatever attacks it desired. Over and over again, he never failed to remind everyone whenever there was a chance that the US had "Israel's" back.
A lose-lose situation
Last week, a poll exclusively for Newsweek by Redfield and Wilton Strategies, found that those aged between 18 and 42 supporting Biden's handling of the war increased by 5 percentage points since October, while 42% of Gen Z voters (aged 18-26) and 48% of millennials (aged 27-42) showed agreement regarding Biden's handling.
24% of Gen Z voters said they disapprove and 25% of millennials disapprove.
Thomas Gift, associate professor of political science in the School of Public Policy at University College London, told Newsweek, "President Biden is in a no-win situation on Israel. He's hearing it from all sides—from pro-Israel groups who expect the White House to give Prime Minister Netanyahu its full-throated support, as well as from pro-Palestinian groups who think the IDF's retaliation has been disproportionate and not sufficiently targeted."
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"Young voters, and especially college students, comprise a nontrivial faction of Americans who appear increasingly wary over what they see as a White House that's too in lockstep with Israeli leadership. That's reflected in a concerning recent Harvard poll, which found that roughly two-thirds of 18-24 year olds view Jews as inherent 'oppressors'," he added.
"Even if many youth voters won't cast their ballot for Trump, their waning support for Biden in light of the Israel-Hamas conflict could cost the president electorally if they simply decide not to show up on election day."
'A good story to tell'
Mark Shanahan, an associate professor in politics at the University of Surrey in the U.K., argued however that polling may not be as impactful to Biden's campaign as commonly believed.
Referring to Biden's changing approach toward the Israeli leadership, he said, "The president is attempting to shift Netanyahu from what many young voters see as a recklessly vengeful path. And overall, that has swung the president's numbers up slightly."
"We've yet to hear much from Trump on the Israel/Hamas conflict, but if he follows form, the former president is likely to be unequivocal in his support for Israel. So if the conflict is still unresolved by November, young progressive voters are far more likely simply to stay at home on election day than to flock to the Republican cause."
"Generally speaking, presidential elections are fought on the economy rather than foreign affairs, and while progress may be steady rather than spectacular, Biden has a good economic story to tell, which could be even better by the fall."
"And finally, the 18-29 category are the least likely to vote on election day anyway. While they remain important, especially in a close race, many simply don't vote whatever the stakes. The fear of a Trump return will force many Democrat-leaning young voters to the polls, and that fear is likely to outweigh their unhappiness with Biden's support for Israel."
