Democrats want candidate against financial aid to 'Israel', not Biden

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Reuters
29 Feb 2024 16:49

The poll demonstrates that 56% of respondents who identified themselves as Democrats said they would vote for someone who doesn't supply military assistance to "Israel".

US President Joe Biden speaks in the Oval Office of the White House, Feb. 27, 2024, in Washington (AP)

A new Reuters/Ipsos poll shows that most Democrats favor a presidential candidate who does not give military aid to "Israel", as opposed to the current US President Joe Biden ahead of the November elections.

The poll demonstrated that 56% of respondents who identified themselves as Democrats said they would vote for someone who doesn't supply military assistance to "Israel" as opposed to 40% who said they would.

This comes as Biden faces backlash in his own party for supporting "Israel's" genocide in Gaza, as a hypothetical poll shows he is tied at 36% with Republican opponent and former President Donald Trump.

According to a recent Gallup poll released on Friday, Biden's approval rating has plummeted to 38%, just one point shy of his all-time low. The poll tracked Biden's handling of six major areas, including his overall job performance, the war in Ukraine, the US economy, wars in the Middle East, the border crisis, and foreign policy issues.

22% of Democrats in the poll blamed "Israel" for the genocide, which has now left 30,000 martyred compared to 13% in the November poll, and they said they wanted a candidate who would call for a ceasefire as well.

46% of Democrats in the poll blamed the Palestinian Resistance, as opposed to 54% in November.

On the other hand, 62% of Republicans in the poll stated their preference for a candidate who favors supplying military aid, and 34% said the opposite.

55% of Republicans said they agreed with the US supporting democratic countries when they are attacked and 40% disagreed. For Democrats, 75% agreed and 23% disagreed.

In the first weeks that followed the war on Gaza, Biden initially expressed strong support for "Israel's" actions. However, as the scale of the genocide progressed and criticism of Biden's stance on "Israel" has intensified domestically, he has become more critical of "Israel's" actions.

On February 9, he called "Israel's" military actions "over the top" and expressed opposition to Israeli plans to invade the city of Rafah. Moreover, the Biden administration reversed a former Trump administration policy on Israeli settlements a week ago by declaring Zionist settlements in occupied territories as illegal.