What it's like inside a 'Muslims for Kamala Harris' WhatsApp group

Muslim-American organisers for Kamala Harris's presidential campaign are struggling to convince the community to vote for her in yet another indication that the Democratic Party may have lost the Muslim vote, Middle East Eye can reveal.

With just days remaining before the US presidential election, the admissions by several grassroots Muslim-American organisers in a private WhatsApp group corroborate reports that not only is Donald Trump gaining momentum amongst sections of the Muslim and Arab-American community, but that many have already decided to vote for a third-party candidate to hold the Democrats accountable for the US-sponsored Israeli war on Gaza. 

Over the past several weeks, MEE has had a front-row seat to discussions and strategies of a group of Muslim volunteers organising for Harris inside one of the many WhatsApp groups set up to help mobilise the community to vote for the current vice president.

But organisers in the group have repeatedly conceded that anger and frustration on the ground is visceral, and convincing Muslim voters to endorse the Democratic nominee is proving difficult, and at times, impossible.

"Unfortunately polls are not looking good and reality on the ground is different," Ahmad Jamal* wrote earlier this week.

"We will keep trying and advocating but unfortunately [the] campaign had not done enough to earn the votes of Muslims, progressives, Pakistani and gen Zs. Their unconditional support for Israel will cost them this election. I hope and pray I am wrong but writing is on the wall and [the] electoral map is looking very bleak," Jamal added.

Read more: What it's like inside a 'Muslims for Kamala Harris' WhatsApp group