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Washington — Many Americans still aren’t sold on going electric for their next car purchase. High prices and a lack of easy-to-find charging stations are major sticking points, a new poll shows.   About 4 in 10 U.S. adults say they would be at least somewhat likely to buy an EV the next time they buy a car, according to the poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research and the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago, while 46% say they are not too likely or not at all likely to purchase one.   The poll results, which echo an AP-NORC poll from last year, show that President Joe Biden’s election-year plan to dramatically raise EV sales is running into resistance from American drivers. Only 13% of U.S. adults say they or someone in their household owns or leases a gas-hybrid car, and just 9% own or lease an electric vehicle.   Caleb Jud of Cincinnati said he’s considering an EV, but may end up with a plug-in hybrid — if he goes electric. While Cincinnati winters aren’t extremely cold, “the thought of getting stuck in the driveway with an EV that won’t run is worrisome, and I know it wouldn’t be an issue with a plug-in hybrid,″ he said. Freezing temperatures can slow chemical reactions in EV batteries, depleting power and reducing driving range. A new rule from the Environmental Protection Agency requires that about 56% of all new vehicle sales be electric by 2032, along with at least 13% plug-in hybrids or other partially electric cars. Auto companies are investing billions in factories and battery technology in an effort to speed up the switch to EVs to cut pollution, fight climate change — and meet the deadline.   EVs are a key part of Biden’s climate agenda. Republicans led by presumptive nominee Donald Trump are turning it into a campaign issue.   Younger people are more open to eventually purchasing an EV than older adults. More than half of those under 45 say they are at least “somewhat” likely to consider an EV purchase. About 32% of those over 45 are somewhat likely to buy an EV, the poll shows.   But only 21% of U.S. adults say they are “very” or “extremely” likely to buy an EV for their next car, according to the poll, and 21% call it somewhat likely. Worries about cost are widespread, as are other practical concerns.   Range anxiety – the idea that EVs cannot go far enough on a single charge and may leave a driver stranded — continues to be a major reason why many Americans do not purchase electric vehicles.   About half of U.S. adults cite worries about range as a major reason not to buy an EV. About 4 in 10 say a major strike against EVs is that they take too long to charge or they don’t know of any public charging stations nearby.   Concern about range is leading some to consider gas-engine hybrids, which allow driving even when the battery runs out. Jud, a 33-year-old operations specialist and political independent, said a hybrid "is more than enough for my about-town shopping, dropping my son off at school'' and other uses.   With EV prices declining, cost would not be a factor, Jud said — a minority view among those polled. Nearly 6 in 10 adults cite cost as a major reason why they would not purchase an EV.   Price is a bigger concern among older adults.   The average price for a new EV was $52,314 in February, according to Kelley Blue Book. That's down by 12.8% from a year earlier, but still higher than the average price for all new vehicles of $47,244, the report said. Jose Valdez of San Antonio owns three EVs, including a new Mustang Mach-E. With a tax credit and other incentives, the sleek new car cost about $49,000, Valdez said. He thinks it's well worth the money.   "People think they cost an arm and a leg, but once they experience (driving) an EV, they'll have a different mindset,'' said Valdez, a retired state maintenance worker.  The 45-year-old Republican said he does not believe in climate change. “I care more about saving green” dollars, he said, adding that he loves the EV's quiet ride and the fact he doesn't have to pay for gas or maintenance. EVs have fewer parts than gas-powered cars and generally cost less to maintain. Valdez installed his home charger himself for less than $700 and uses it for all three family cars, the Mustang and two older Ford hybrids. With a recently purchased converter, he can also charge at a nearby Tesla supercharger station, Valdez said.   About half of those who say they live in rural areas cite lack of charging infrastructure as a major factor in not buying an EV, compared with 4 in 10 of those living in urban communities.   Daphne Boyd, of Ocala, Florida, has no interest in owning an EV. There are few public chargers near her rural home “and EVs don’t make any environmental sense,″ she said, citing precious metals that must be mined to make batteries, including in some countries that rely on child labor or other unsafe conditions. She also worries that heavy EV batteries increase wear-and-tear on tires and make the cars less efficient. Experts say extra battery weight can wear on tires but say proper maintenance and careful driving can extend tire life.   Boyd, a 54-year-old Republican and self-described farm wife, said EVs may eventually make economic and environmental sense, but “they’re not where they need to be” to convince her to buy one now or in the immediate future. Ruth Mitchell, a novelist from Eureka Springs, Arkansas, loves her EV. “It’s wonderful — quiet, great pickup, cheap to drive. I rave about it on Facebook,″ she said. Mitchell, a 70-year-old Democrat, charges her Chevy Volt hybrid at home but says there are several public chargers near her house. She’s not looking for a new car, Mitchell said, but when she does it will be electric: "I won't drive anything else."

Chinatowns are recognizable all over the world, either by their big red gates or streets lined with Chinese restaurants and stores. In Nairobi, Kenya, there are several Chinatowns of different sizes scattered around the city. VOA Nairobi bureau chief, Mariama Diallo took a stroll in one of them and has this story. Camera and edit: Amos Wangwa

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Mexico has elected its first woman president and the first with a Jewish background in the nation’s history. Experts say Claudia Sheinbaum will face a series of major challenges when she becomes the chief of Mexico, a top U.S. ally. VOA’s Celia Mendoza reports from the capital, Mexico City. (Camera and Produced by: Miguel Angel Boizo)

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Taipei, Taiwan — Thirty-five years after the Tiananmen Square protests and massacre captured the attention of a shocked world, the children of two victims of China’s 1989 violent crackdown against democracy honor their parents’ legacies. Zhang Hongyuan, 25, is currently in the Netherlands seeking political asylum. He fled there in April 2023, after authorities in Wuhan of China's Hubei province, threatened to arrest him for his public-interest activism. His advocacy followed the footsteps of his father, Zhang Yi, who was arrested 35 years ago when Chinese authorities put an end to public democratic rallies in Tiananmen Square and in many cities on June 4, 1989. He was then jailed for two years. Zhang Hongyuan had started a career as a field engineer at the Dapu Power Plant in Meizhou city in Guangdong province. But he found himself on a different path in 2020, when he helped his father spread the word in Wuhan about the outbreak of COVID-19. Later that year, he worked as a translator for a documentary by dissident visual artist Ai Weiwei. In 2022, Zhang Hongyuan recorded video footage in China of public protests against strict pandemic-related mass civilian lockdowns. His involvement in the White Paper Movement, as the citizens’ public expressions against the lockdowns became known, and another dissident, Yang Min's, act of seeking asylum abroad prompted him to flee China on short notice 15 months ago. Grace Fang, now 23, immigrated to the U.S. at age eight. She did not learn until she turned 11 or 12 that her father, Zheng Fang, had his legs crushed by a Chinese military tank during the Tiananmen Square violence. Grace Fang graduated in 2023 from Wellesley College in Massachusetts. Last June, she helped host a San Francisco Bay area event remembering the crackdown. The Chinese government refers to the events at Tiananmen Square in June 1989 as a "counterrevolutionary riot" and downplays its severity. In China, discussion of the event in media or textbooks of the event is largely forbidden. The authorities regularly harass those at home or overseas who seek to keep the memory of the events alive. Zhang Hongyuan told VOA he was raised in China by his father and forced to mature early, especially after Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leader Xi Jinping came to power in 2012. Zhang Hongyuan said authorities began to tighten control over the dissidents of the “1989 generation,” which included his father, Zhang Yi. Frequent police surveillance, house searches and detention had an effect on Zhang Yi, which in turn had an effect on his son. "When I was a minor, other people's fathers went to the police station to pick up their sons, but I was a son who went to pick up my father. I did this a lot," Zhang Hongyuan said. "It was precisely these things that prompted me to realize the inhuman side of totalitarian rule at a young age," he said, adding that it gave him the courage to echo the boy on bike during the Tiananmen movement, whose words became famous, and say, "It’s my duty and I have to do something." Zhang Yi was in Wuhan in 1989 and was attending public rallies in support of students nationwide when he was arrested on June 4. Zhang Yi spent two years in prison, convicted of assembling a crowd to disrupt traffic during that mid-1989 period of democratic expression. "There was a big black spot on my father's back,’’ Zhang Hongyuan said. “He showed it to me when I was in junior high school and said it was caused by the beating by the guards, as well as the humid environment in the detention center. From that time on, I really began to understand June 4." About 15 years ago, Zheng Fang and his daughter, Grace Fang immigrated to the U.S. He is now the president of the China Democracy Education Foundation in San Francisco. Zheng Fang said he is proud that all his three daughters, including Grace who studied American environmental politics and earned a college degree, have a clear understanding of the Chinese Communist government. He told VOA that while Grace Fang has grown up to be an American, she understands the June 4 massacre first-hand and how China's repression had impacted the Chinese people including her family. Grace Fang told VOA that she admires her father, who is a ‘’hero’’ for standing publicly with the democratic movement in China in June 1989. But as someone who has fewer ties with China now, she can only help translate for her father during talks and presentations at which he shares his experience in China opposing state intimidation. She said that while she is angered by what happened to her father, she has hope for the Chinese to have a better future. "Although this historical event [June 4] was very cruel and the government was wrong in many ways, and the human rights situation [in China] was definitely not good, I no longer have hatred, and I just feel sad [about the truth] because I still hope that the Chinese people can have a better future," Grace Fang told VOA. She said it is important that young Chinese are aware of recent history in China, especially about the Tiananmen Square period, because they have the right to know the truth about their country and government.   With hope, she said, that young Chinese in the future should have the opportunity to participate in their country’s social and political affairs and promote a more open and free China. Adrianna Zhang from VOA's Mandarin Service contributed to this story.

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Los Angeles — How does it feel for Mick Jagger to be back on tour singing, dancing and strutting across stadium concert stages at 80 years old? "Like being on stage at 78," the Rolling Stones frontman, who has thrilled audiences for more than six decades, said a day after playing a packed show outside Boston. "It took a couple of shows to get into the groove, but now we're into it," Jagger said. "I'm feeling good." He sang "What a drag it is getting old," back in the 1960s. But Jagger, who turns 81 on July 26, is still having a blast and has no plans to stop rocking anytime soon. Now swinging through the U.S. on the "Hackney Diamonds" tour, the group will look at opportunities to play in other countries next year, Jagger said in an interview. "We'll consider those offers, where we're going to go and where it will be fun, you know?" he said. "It could be Europe, could be South America, could be anywhere." Jagger also said the Stones are likely to release more new music soon.   The current tour is named for the critically praised album the Stones debuted last October, the first new material from the British rockers in 18 years. At each stop, Jagger commands the stage for two hours with bandmates Keith Richards, 80, and Ronnie Wood, 77. Fans say Jagger still delivers a vigorous performance full of gyrating, stomping, sprinting and his world-famous swagger. In a review titled "The Rolling Stones Really Might Never Stop," the New York Times said Jagger, at a show at a football stadium in New Jersey, seemed to get more energetic as the night went on. Where does he find such energy? "I just enjoy it," Jagger said. "Really, that's the answer. I just love doing it. "You get this back and forth with the audience. You can see they're having a good time, you're having a good time, and it gives you a lot more energy." Music legends may join Jagger Jagger said he stays fit by doing two dance rehearsals and a few gym workouts each week. His father was a physical education teacher and Jagger has often credited his good health to genetics. On the tour, the Stones play about four songs from "Hackney Diamonds" in between rock classics such as "Start Me Up," "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" and "Sympathy for the Devil." The set list is tweaked for each stop. Fans appear to have embraced the new music, Jagger said. He sees people in the crowd singing along to the words. Coming up, Jagger said he hopes to be joined on stage by some of the music legends who made guest appearances on "Hackney Diamonds" - Paul McCartney, Lady Gaga, Stevie Wonder and Elton John - but said he does not yet have commitments. "It's hard pinning them down," he said. The Stones recorded many songs that did not make it onto "Hackney Diamonds," which may lead to another album, Jagger said. "We've got a lot more, so I think we may be set up to make another album quite soon," he said. Outside of music, Jagger is producing a film about the love story between jazz musician Miles Davis and French actress and singer Juliette Greco, as well as a movie adaptation of "The Real Thing," a play by British playwright Tom Stoppard. Jagger has appeared on screen in about a dozen films and TV shows and said he would like to do more acting. "I don't really get that many interesting offers, to be honest," he said. "I enjoy doing it when I do it." Interest in U.S. elections On the tour, the band asks ticket holders at each stop to vote on one song to be included in that night's show. Boston fans chose 1980 track "Emotional Rescue" in the online poll, which had a turnout of roughly 80%. Jagger used the moment to urge the audience to vote in the U.S. presidential election in November. He did not say which candidate he preferred, but the band has threatened to sue likely Republican nominee Donald Trump if his campaign keeps playing the Stones hit "You Can’t Always Get What You Want" at events. Jagger has made brief political jabs on stage and occasionally receives flack as a Brit commenting on American politics. "First of all, I think everyone has a right to have an opinion," Jagger said. "It's a free country." "I feel like it's such an important election," he added. "I've got seven children who are U.S. citizens. I care about what happens to their future. And I pay a lot of American taxes. So why shouldn't I be able to say what I feel?"

Chicago — Mark Tuttle planted more soy and less corn on his northern Illinois farm this spring as prices for both crops hover near three-year lows and soybeans' lower production costs offered him the best chance of turning a profit in the country's top soy producing state. He even planted soybeans in one of his fields for a second straight year, breaking the traditional soy-corn-soy rotation for field management. He and many other farmers are hoping to just minimize losses. Planting more soy at a time of sputtering demand from importers and domestic processors will only serve to drive prices lower, further swell historically large global supplies and erode U.S. farm incomes already poised for the steepest annual drop ever in dollar terms. But Midwest farmers' other main options — seeding more corn or leaving fields fallow — could have resulted in even wider losses. "There's a better chance of making money with soybeans than there is for corn right now," Tuttle said. "But if we have another bigger crop, prices are going to go lower and that's not going to bode well for the farmer." In March, the U.S. Department of Agriculture forecast farmers would plant 86.5 million acres of soybeans nationwide this spring, the fifth most ever. Some analysts expect soybean acres to increase by another million acres or more as heavy rains close the window on corn planting. In nearby Princeton, Illinois, Evan Hultine also increased soy plantings and scaled back corn. High production costs due in part to a jump in interest rates looked likely to erode most or all of his corn returns, while soybeans remained marginally profitable, he said. The farm's profits will likely be the thinnest in at least five years, Hultine said. In an annual early season crop budget estimate, University of Illinois agricultural economists projected negative average farmer returns in the state for both crops, though losses would be smaller for soybeans. Unprofitable crops  In northern Illinois, farmers could lose $140 per acre on average for corn and $30 an acre for soybeans with autumn delivery prices of $4.50 and $11.50 a bushel, respectively, the analysis showed. Actual returns vary significantly from farm to farm, however, depending on factors like crop yields, the timing of grain sales and whether farmers own or rent their land. Fertilizer costs are down from highs last year, but crop prices are also down, while land costs remain elevated and borrowing rates for operating loans and equipment have jumped, likely forcing farmers to cut expenses, the economists said. When looking to cut costs, farmers often favor planting soybeans rather than corn because they require less fertilizer and pesticides and seed costs tend to be lower. High interest rates have been a particularly painful expense recently. "If you're borrowing $700 an acre to put a corn crop in at 7% to 8%, you're talking about some real dollars there just on the price of money. You can put a bean crop in a lot cheaper. Your interest cost per acre might be half," Tuttle said. More soy, less corn An early-spring forecast from the USDA projected soy plantings would expand by 3.5% this year while corn plantings were expected to shrink 4.9%. The expansion is expected to swell the U.S. soy stockpile next season by more than 30% to the highest in five years and the sixth highest level on record as demand from the domestic and export markets is not keeping pace with rising production, according to the USDA. Now, rain-saturated fields in some areas could clip corn acres and even further expand seedings of soybeans, which, unlike corn, can be planted well into June without significant risk to yields. Cash prices offered for the next corn and soybean harvest have improved from earlier this spring in Spencer, Iowa, where Brent Swart has been struggling to plant the last of his corn acres due to overly wet weather. But neither crop pencils a profit at current prices. Nearly a foot of rain over the past month, seven inches more than normal, has left his fields too soggy for field work. Swart estimates his remaining corn fields may not be in shape to plant until after his planting deadline date of June 1, when crop insurance benefits begin to drop with each day. Swart's best option in some of his fields may be to file an insurance claim saying he was prevented from planting due to waterlogged soils. Soybean prices remain some 40 cents a bushel under his estimated cost of production, he said. "If you switch to soybeans, you're potentially looking at a loss. If you prevent plant, you're looking at more of a breakeven scenario," Swart said. Only farmers with severe weather issues will be able to file for insurance, however. Weather delays and a favorable price versus corn could boost soy plantings by 500,000 to 1 million acres above the USDA's latest forecast for 86.5 million, said Tanner Ehmke, lead economist for grains and oilseeds at CoBank. "The signal from the marketplace to the farmer right now is that, if you have a doubt about your acreage, send those acres to soybeans," he said.

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Seoul, South Korea — South Korea fully suspended an agreement meant to reduce tensions with North Korea, defense officials said Tuesday, allowing Seoul to resume all military activities along the inter-Korean border. The decision, approved by South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, is part of Seoul’s response after Pyongyang sent waves of balloons filled with trash and excrement over the South. The decision frees South Korea to resume military drills, including live-fire exercises, along the border and near frontline islands. It also allows for the resumption of loudspeaker propaganda broadcasts into the North. Inter-Korean tensions escalated last week after hundreds of North Korean balloons dropped garbage – and reportedly feces – on busy streets, in front of residences, and in other public areas across South Korea. North Korea says its trash balloons were retaliation after a prominent, South Korea-based human rights activist, launched balloons carrying anti-North Korea pamphlets and Korean pop culture content into the North. South Korea’s military said it has found nearly 1,000 “filth balloons,” which were sent in two separate waves. It says North Korea has also been blocking GPS signals in border areas. In a statement Tuesday, South Korea’s military said the North’s actions “seriously threatened the safety of our people” and vowed to “firmly punish” any future provocations. “The government has decided to suspend all of the ‘919 military agreements’ so that our military is no longer restricted in their activities to protect the lives and property of the people,” the statement said. “Responsibility for this situation lies entirely with the North Korean regime,” it added, without specifying which military activities would resume along the border or when. South Korean media report that officials may resume loudspeaker broadcasts, which contain criticism of North Korea’s human rights record and forms of entertainment forbidden in the North. North Korea is governed by a third-generation hereditary dictatorship that views virtually all outside information as an existential threat. Pyongyang has promised to halt its trash balloon launches as long as no anti-Pyongyang materials are sent northward. But Park Sang-hak, the North Korean defector activist who heads a group called Fighters for a Free North Korea, vowed to continue sending his balloons unless North Korean leader Kim Jong Un apologizes for his “evil acts.” “If you do not apologize, we will retaliate a thousand times – ten thousand times – more than what you have done,” Park said in a statement. South Korean officials have at times argued that they cannot stop every individual from sending leaflets into the North. Their ability to regulate such launches was further hampered in September, when the country’s Constitutional Court struck down a law banning such launches. The developments appear to put both Koreas on a path to escalation, said Chad O’Carroll, the Seoul-based founder of NK News, a website focused on North Korea. According to O’Carroll, North Korea appears determined to coerce South Korea into stopping the northward launches. “Outside information is really ideological contamination, it's like a cancer. It's a serious Achilles heel for Kim Jong Un,” he said. “And I think this latest action is a function of that hypersensitivity.” If South Korea were to resume propaganda broadcasts, that could prompt an even firmer response by the North, O’Carroll said, citing a 2015 incident in which North Korea fired a projectile toward a South Korean loudspeaker. “If they do that, we could see a greater chance for North Korea to consider some limited form of kinetic military action to stop loudspeakers or to stop the growth of this unofficial information coming into the North." In 2018, the two Koreas agreed to stop a wide range of border provocations, including military drills and propaganda broadcasts. However, that deal, known as the Comprehensive Military Agreement, has been eroding for years. Most notably, North Korea in late 2022 sent five small reconnaissance drones across the border, with one making it all the way to the northern edge of the capital, Seoul. After the North successfully placed its first spy satellite into orbit in November, South Korea stepped away from parts of the agreement. In return, Pyongyang said it would never be bound by the deal. The CMA was perhaps the most concrete outcome of the 2018-19 diplomacy between the two Koreas, which saw three meetings between Kim and his then South Korean counterpart, President Moon Jae-in. The conservative Yoon has expressed disdain for the agreement, slamming what he calls the “fake peace” initiative of his liberal predecessor.

WASHINGTON — The war in Gaza is shaking Muslim Americans’ political loyalties ahead of the U.S. presidential election in November. Disenchanted by President Joe Biden’s embrace of Israel, many Democratic-leaning Muslims who once backed him are now vowing to withdraw their endorsement. But it’s not just Muslim Democrats abandoning their once-preferred candidate. Some Muslim Republicans are also wavering amidst their own party's support of Israel. Mo Nehad, a Pakistani American Republican activist in Fort Bend County, Texas, has seen up close the political effects of the Gaza conflict on Muslim American voting. In late 2020, Nehad, who is a small-business owner, police officer and military warrant officer, helped found a grassroots group in a bid to engage the local Muslim community with the Republican Party. Initially focused on opposition to COVID-19 vaccine mandates and mask mandates, the group, called Muslim Americans of Texas, soon found a new cause: a conservative backlash to sex and gender education policies in local schools. "We were essentially trying to tell the Muslim community, regardless of what has happened in the past overseas, let's focus on national topics and events," Nehad said in an interview. “And when you compare what traditionally a Democratic-elected president has done and a Republican-elected president has done [on national issues], a Republican-elected president is much better for the Muslims.” The advocacy paid off, he said. While the Fort Bend County Muslim community remained solidly Democratic, a small number started crossing party lines, mirroring a pattern seen across the country. "These are people who go to the same masjid as I do, people who are in the same home-school groups," he said. Then the war in Gaza broke out after the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel, testing the political allegiance of Muslim Democrats and Republicans alike, with both viewing their parties as equally pro-Israel. Many Muslim Americans who had overwhelmingly voted for Biden in 2020 fumed over the president’s support for an Israeli military campaign that has killed more than 30,000 Palestinians. Earlier this year, a group of progressive Muslim activists launched a campaign they labeled #AbandonBiden, inducing hundreds of thousands of voters to vote “uncommitted” in key Democratic primaries in Michigan and elsewhere. Members were also threatening not to vote for Biden in November. Republican-leaning Muslims, fewer in number, have not been as vocal. While many are backing their party, its equally staunch support of Israel has alienated some, according to Muslim activists and experts. Nehad said that while he intends to vote for former President Donald Trump in November, some Republican Muslims are reconsidering their stance and even “going back” to the Democratic Party, drawn by that party’s stronger criticism of Israeli actions. “They don’t want to vote for Republican candidates because the Republican candidates do not want to go ahead and openly denounce what Israel is doing,” Nehad said. Drift to GOP stalls Youssef Chouhoud, a political science professor at Christopher Newport University in Newport News, Virginia, said the war in Gaza appears to have paused if not blunted the recent Muslim drift to the GOP. Had the war not occurred, he said that as many as 40% of Muslim Americans would have voted for the Republican presidential nominee in November. “I was fully expecting that,” Chouhoud, who studies Muslim American voting behavior, said. Now, he said he is not so sure. “I wouldn’t be surprised if upwards of 40% are voting third party or otherwise testing some vote that is not a two-party vote,” he said. A recent poll by the Arab American Anti-Discrimination Committee and The Truth Project showed that only 7% of Arab American voters plan to vote for Biden and 2% for Trump, with Green Party candidate Jill Stein receiving 25%. How the Muslim vote will influence the outcome of the presidential contest between Biden and Trump remains uncertain. Numbering about 3.5 million, Muslims make up just 1% of the U.S. population. In tight races in swing states with large Muslim populations, though, their vote could potentially sway the outcome of the election. But American Muslims are a diverse lot, with interests and priorities often as varied as the general electorate. While anger over the Gaza conflict may have unified the community, it is not the only issue driving their voting decision, said Saher Selod, director of research for the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding, a Muslim American research group in Dearborn, Michigan. “We need to know if [some Muslim voters] are centering this issue as a major driving force in terms of how they're going to vote," Selod said in an interview. "Other groups, while they might support a cease-fire, have other issues that that they're going to vote on." VOA asked both the Biden and Trump campaigns about their outreach to Muslim Americans and any steps to assuage their concerns over the Gaza war. In a statement, a Biden campaign spokesperson said, “The President shares the goal of a just and lasting peace in the region. He’s working tirelessly to that end.” In a separate statement, the campaign’s Michigan director said the Biden team is in contact with Arab American and Muslim groups in Detroit and Dearborn. Both cities have large Muslim populations. The Trump campaign did not respond to a request for comment. The campaign has not publicly reached out to the Muslim community on the war in Gaza, but Trump’s son-in-law, Michael Boulos, and a former Trump administration official recently met with a group of Arab Americans and Middle Eastern leaders in Michigan. Historical patterns Historically, Muslim American voters have oscillated between the two major political parties. Socially conservative, most voted Republican in the 1980s and 1990s, leading some party activists to hail them as “natural” allies. In 2000, a majority backed Republican George W. Bush. That changed after the attacks of Sept. 11, as the Bush administration’s increased scrutiny of the community amid its “war on terror” sent Muslims flocking to the Democratic Party. In every presidential election since 2004, Muslims have favored the Democratic nominee. But with memories of 9/11 fading in recent years, some Muslims began to shift back to the Republican Party, driven by shared conservative values such as opposition to abortion, gay marriage and LGBTQ-inclusive policies in schools. "This is the social conservatism within this community kind of creeping up to the surface and guiding political decisions in light of a lot of marquee policy debates," Chouhoud said. Some polls confirm this recent voting trend. In October 2020, an Institute for Social Policy and Understanding poll found 30% of Muslims approved of Trump's job performance, up from 13% in 2018.  In November 2020, an Associated Press exit poll found that 64% supported Biden and 35% backed Trump. Other polls showed a more modest increase in Muslim support for Trump. Muslim support for Republican candidates continued into 2022. During that year's midterm elections, 28% of Muslims voted Republican, up from 17% during the 2018 midterms, while 70% voted Democratic, down from 81%. Today, the Muslim voter base is firmly rooted in the Democratic Party, though a significant slice leans Republican. A recent Pew Research poll found that 66% of Muslim voters are Democrats or lean Democratic, while 32% are Republicans or lean Republican. Three previous polls conducted by Pew had all shown lower-level numbers of Republican or Republican-leaning Muslim voters, according to Besheer Mohamed, a senior Pew researcher. “There are certain issues where Muslims tend to align more with the Republican Party, Mohamed said, noting positive views of religion and skepticisms toward LGBTQ issues.  “Then there are other issues where that’s not the case.” Nehad, once an independent voter, is now a Republican. His political pivot came after he ran unsuccessfully as a Democratic candidate for constable where he said he felt pressured to champion policies that clashed with his religious convictions. This year, he stood as a Republican candidate for Fort Bend County sheriff. “Everything the Republican Party stands for, 70% of it aligns with my beliefs and values,” Nehad said, in a drawl honed over more than 25 years of living in the Lone Star state. “But when I compare the same with the Democratic Party, it’s only maybe 20 or 40%, if that.” Zahoor Gire, another co-founder of the Muslim Americans of Texas, said Muslim Americans “share conservative Republican values” such as strong families, traditional marriage, traditional gender roles and opposition to abortion. “I had family members of my own that had voted Democratic before and are now voting Republican,” Gire said. Underscoring the renewed Muslim embrace of the Republican Party, he said a record eight Republican Muslim candidates have run for office in Texas this year. “So that shows you the willingness of people to embrace this party and then run for office through this party’s platform,” Gire said. To many Muslim Republicans, Trump is not the anti-Muslim politician as he is seen by others. They’ve defended his so-called “Muslim ban” as a necessary national security measure rather than a religiously motivated injunction. But the Gaza war has become “the main issue” for Muslims in America, Gire said. And with Trump urging Israel earlier this year to “finish what they started,” his perceived support of Israel at the expense of Palestinians is giving some Muslim Republicans pause. Asked if he will support Trump in November, Gire said, "We need to see very specifically what his foreign policies will be, what his stance towards Muslim Americans will be.”

Give us 5 minutes, and we'll give you the world. Around the clock, Voice of America keeps you in touch with the latest news. We bring you reports from our correspondents and interviews with newsmakers from across the world.

Give us 5 minutes, and we'll give you the world. Around the clock, Voice of America keeps you in touch with the latest news. We bring you reports from our correspondents and interviews with newsmakers from across the world.

Give us 5 minutes, and we'll give you the world. Around the clock, Voice of America keeps you in touch with the latest news. We bring you reports from our correspondents and interviews with newsmakers from across the world.