On Monday, CBS Mornings joined ABC and NBC with a hair-on-fire warning for President Biden that if he continued to support Israel and oppose Hamas, he risked losing the Muslim vote and possibly losing the 2024 election. Of course, the source of CBS’s moral cowardice in standing up to the terrorist organization was the fear that Democrats could lose the key state of Michigan and former President Trump could become president again.
Co-anchor Tony Dokoupil kicked off the network’s kvetching by warning that “The latest CBS News poll, in fact, finds most Americans do not approve of President Biden's handling of the conflict” and “that could make a big difference in Michigan, the swing state where some 200,000 Muslim-Americans live.”
Senior White House correspondent Ed O’Keefe, reporting from Dearborn, Michigan (which is “predominantly Arab-American”), elevated one young Muslim man, Adam Abusalah, saying his “concerns about President Biden” supporting Israel against Hamas “are an alarm bell for Democrats.” “He’s killing our people,” Abusalah told O’Keefe.
“[Abusalah is] worried about the health of the economy. But now, as the administration continues standing by Israel's deadly attacks on Gaza, Abusalah says he and his community can no longer support the President,” O’Keefe spelled it out.
O’Keefe betrayed his true interest in the issue of Biden losing the Muslim vote when he pressed Abusalah on how he and his community could be allowing Trump to waltz back into the White House. Abusalah didn’t care:
O’KEEFE: So then what will the people do, stay home?
ABUSALAH: No. We’re going to go vote, but we’re going to keep the top of the ticket empty.
O’KEEFE: You would skip voting for president in 2024—
ABUSALAH: Yes.
O’KEEFE: -- even if it meant Donald Trump might win the presidency?
ABUSALAH: If you were to tell me that my vote would be the vote whether Biden wins in Michigan or not, I will still not vote for Biden.
O’KEEFE: It’s that much of an issue for you?
ABUSALAH: Yeah. My people dying is that much of an issue for me.
“Holding Michigan is key to a Biden victory in 2024,” O’Keefe noted. “146,000 Muslim-Americans voted here in 2020 with nearly 70 percent nationwide going for the President. But Abusalah warns the anger here could cause the President the election.”
He also spoke with “Dearborn’s first-ever Arab-American mayor” Abdullah Hammoud (D), who also opposed Biden’s support for Israel. “You cannot overlook the genocide that’s taking place and you have to weigh that on a scale,” he told O’Keefe.
Hammoud also didn’t seem to care about the October 7th terrorist attacks that sparked the war:
O’KEEFE: What is your view on how President Biden is responding to what happened on October 7th?
HAMMOUD: I think it has been awful.
The segment ended with O’Keefe delivering the Biden campaign’s damage control line, in that he “continues to work closely and proudly with leaders in the Muslim and Palestinian communities across the country,” and the White House was “tirelessly working to increase the urgent delivery of aid to the, quote, ‘innocent people of Gaza.’”
The transcript is below. Click "expand" to read:
CBS Mornings
December 11, 2023
8:08:56 a.m. EasternTONY DOKOUPIL: And of course, the war between Israel and Hamas is causing political repercussions back here in the U.S. The latest CBS News poll, in fact, finds most Americans do not approve of President Biden's handling of the conflict. That number has grown as the war has stretched on.
As Ed O’Keefe reports, that could make a big difference in Michigan, the swing state where some 200,000 Muslim-Americans live.
[Cuts to video]
ED O’KEEFE: The 23-year-old Adam Abusalah’s concerns about President Biden are an alarm bell for Democrats.
ADAM ABUSALAH: He’s killing our people.
O’KEEFE: Four years ago, he campaigned for the president, urging neighbors in predominantly Arab-American Dearborn, Michigan, to vote against Donald Trump.
ABUSALAH: If you were to ask me two months ago if I was going to vote for Joe Biden, yeah, I would’ve held my nose and voted for him.
O’KEEFE: He’s worried about the health of the economy. But now, as the administration continues standing by Israel's deadly attacks on Gaza—
ABUSALAH: Free, free Palestine.
O’KEEFE: Abusalah says he and his community can no longer support the President.
ABUSALAH: The same way they are being silent in the face of injustices, we’re going to be silent in November 2024.
O’KEEFE: Abdullah Hammoud, is Dearborn’s first-ever Arab-American mayor and says for many here, the Israel-Hamas War is deeply personal.
ABDULLAH HAMMOUD (D-MN): We have some residents who have lost entire families.
O’KEEFE: A Democrat, the mayor credits the legislation signed by the President for pumping tens of millions of federal aid into his city.
HAMMOUD: The domestic that policies President Biden has achieved have been nothing short of phenomenal.
O’KEEFE: But he has his own strong views on what’s happening in Gaza.
HAMMOUD: You cannot overlook the genocide that’s taking place and you have to weigh that on a scale.
O’KEEFE: What is your view on how President Biden is responding to what happened on October 7th?
HAMMOUD: I think it has been awful.
O’KEEFE: Holding Michigan is key to a Biden victory in 2024. 146,000 Muslim-Americans voted here in 2020 with nearly 70 percent nationwide going for the President. But Abusalah warns the anger here could cause the President the election.
So then what will the people do, stay home?
ABUSALAH: No. We’re going to go vote, but we’re going to keep the top of the ticket empty.
O’KEEFE: You would skip voting for president in 2024—
ABUSALAH: Yes.
O’KEEFE: -- even if it meant Donald Trump might win the presidency?
ABUSALAH: If you were to tell me that my vote would be the vote whether Biden wins in Michigan or not, I will still not vote for Biden.
O’KEEFE: It’s that much of an issue for you?
ABUSALAH: Yeah. My people dying is that much of an issue for me.
[Cuts back to live]
O’KEEFE: A Biden campaign spokesperson says the President continues to work closely and proudly with leaders in the Muslim and Palestinian communities across the country, while the White House says it is tirelessly working to increase the urgent delivery of aid to the, quote, “innocent people of Gaza.” Tony.
DOKOUPIL: Really eye-opening conversations there, Ed.
(…)
