Jamaal Bowman blames Biden's "one-sided" Israel-Gaza stance for dwindling youth and BIPOC support

Washington DC - Congressman Jamaal Bowman has blamed Joe Biden's concerning poll numbers, in part, on the president's continued military support for Israel, while leaving domestic policy priorities unaddressed.

New York Representative Jamaal Bowman is one of a handful of members of Congress calling for an immediate and lasting ceasefire in Gaza.
New York Representative Jamaal Bowman is one of a handful of members of Congress calling for an immediate and lasting ceasefire in Gaza.  © MANDEL NGAN / AFP

"Young voters were already upset over a variety of things, including how [Biden has] handled the climate issue. He's done some good things, and he's kind of playing a yo-yo with them. He does some good things, and they come in, and then he does something else that pushes them away," Bowman said during an MSNBC interview on Wednesday.

"The response to the Israel-Gaza conflict – again, the one-sidedness of it – has really turned young people away and the BIPOC community away as well," Bowman added.

The interview came days after the release of an NBC poll which found that 70% of voters ages 18 to 34 disapprove of Biden's handling of the human rights crisis in Gaza.

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"Young people, they want peace, they want justice, they want a diplomatic response to what's going on. They want us to spend more money on education and jobs and climate and keeping people out of prison and health care than we spend on war, and this president, at the moment, is not showing the capacity to do that."

Biden urged to do more for voters of color

On top of that, voters of color are turning from Biden in increasing numbers, in part due to the administration's position toward Israel and Gaza, and failure to address long-standing discriminatory policies and practices at home.

"People of color have been turned off for a while because of lack of comprehensive immigration reform, if you're talking about the Latino community, and no conversation at all about reparations if you're talking about the Black community," the congressman explained.

"We're spending hundreds of billions of dollars every year on weapons and war, but we can't even have a conversation about reparations?"

Cover photo: MANDEL NGAN / AFP

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