Egyptian-American comedian Bassem Youssef 'urges Arab-American voters to abandon Biden' over Gaza genocide support

Egyptian-American comedian Bassem Youssef told the BBC he will not vote for incumbent US President Joe Biden in the 2024 election because of his support for Israel's genocidal war in Gaza, implicitly urging other Arab Americans to dump the presumed Democratic Party candidate.

"The Democrats are blackmailing us. It's like if you don't vote for Biden, Trump will come. So what has Biden done for us? I coined a new name for Biden: Joe Geriatric Genocide Biden. The guy is not even good enough to be a genocide guy. He's dementic and I want him to go down in history losing this [election]," he told Stephen Sackur, the presenter of HARDtalk, the BBC World News' flagship current affairs interview programme.

Watch @Byoussef talk about a new Superman film and his fear he was ‘cancelled’ for speaking out on Israel/Gaza conflict pic.twitter.com/5KVYuqOZ9u

— BBC HARDtalk (@BBCHARDtalk) February 19, 2024

As a significant voice in the Arab American community, "you're telling me you want Joe Biden to lose?", asked Sackur, saying Biden's rival Donald Trump would likely find this news "fantastic".

"Yes I want him to lose. I don't care about Trump winning but I want Joe Biden to lose. All we asked from him was a ceasefire [in Gaza]. Stop the killing. How difficult is this?" said Youssef.

"I'm not going to be blackmailed that I'm going to enable Trump to win. The Democrats did that to themselves. They cannot continue to pretend they are on our side, and then they need our votes during the election, and then for the next four years, they screw us up and they kill our people back in the Middle East".

Dubbed "the Jon Stewart of Egypt," Bassem Youssef has become a prominent advocate for Palestinian rights. His sharp wit and outspoken critiques of Israeli policies towards Palestinians have garnered wide attention, including in Gaza, beginning with a viral appearance on Piers Morgan's show.

'Abandon Biden'

Bassem Youssef's comments, aired last week, follow a growing backlash over Gaza against the Biden administration in the Arab American community, concentrated in states like Michigan; and the Muslim American community.

US Muslim leaders have announced their plans for a nationwide campaign to vote out US president Joe Biden in the upcoming presidential elections. 

The recently launched #AbandonBiden campaign says on its website that the Biden administration's "failure" to call for a ceasefire in Israel’s war on the besieged Gaza Strip prompted community leaders to take action. 

The campaign aims to tackle Biden in all 50 states, as it said that organisers had begun rallying in October in nine swing states, including as Nevada, Minnesota, Arizona and Wisconsin.  

Many Muslims and people of Middle Eastern heritage feeling betrayed by the Democratic Party, normally their political home.

They accuse the 81-year-old Democrat of sacrificing civilians in Gaza, which is facing a serious humanitarian crisis, in the name of supporting Israel.

Biden is now regularly confronted by demonstrators waving Palestinian flags and chanting slogans against "Genocide Joe," with his speeches constantly interrupted by protesters.

He won decisively among Arabs and Muslims in 2020. But analysts have warned many could stay home or vote for a third party in 2024.