Trump calls Biden a “bad Palestinian” in a jibe at the US presidential debate | News about the US election 2024

At a protest rally near the venue, both candidates failed to mention the suffering of the Palestinians and the consequences of the Israeli war against Gaza.

Republican Donald Trump has called US President Joe Biden “a very bad Palestinian” who does not want to help Israel “finish the job” against Hamas in the war against Gaza.

“He doesn’t want to do it. He’s become like a Palestinian – but they don’t like him because he’s a very bad Palestinian, a weak one,” former President Trump said in the first presidential debate with Biden on Thursday in Atlanta, Georgia.

Ayah Ziyadeh, director of American Muslims for Palestine, told Al Jazeera that the “nasty Palestinian” comment was “very obviously racist.”

“The use of the word ‘Palestinian’ as a slur shows how deeply rooted racism is here,” Ziyadeh said.

While the debate, which was accompanied by pro-Palestinian protests, made several references to foreign policy and the Middle East, there was little mention of the suffering of the Palestinians and the consequences of Israel’s war in Gaza – which has killed more than 37,700 people since October.

Neither Biden, who is under pressure from his Democratic base because of his staunch support of ally Israel, nor Trump are “unfit to represent the Palestinian and Arab community in the United States,” Ziyadeh said.

“Not only are Muslim and Arab Americans deciding they will not support or re-elect Biden because he continues to stand by his position and support Israel’s genocide in Gaza, but the broader American public has also changed its mind, and this has become one of the biggest issues affecting the upcoming election,” she said.

“Lack of vision” to end the war

The debate made it clear that both Democrats and Republicans had lost their will to end the war and support the establishment of a Palestinian state, said Tamer Qarmout, professor at the Doha Institute of Graduate Studies.

“The focus of the discussion was not on a Palestinian state per se – it was about supporting Israel and how best to support Israel,” he told Al Jazeera.

“Both candidates lack a real vision to end this conflict. It is a very superficial discussion in which ending the conflict is not the focus.”

Trump said Israel wants to continue the war and that’s how it should be. When asked if he would support the establishment of a Palestinian state to ensure peace in the region, Trump hesitated. “I’ll have to see about that.”

One candidate is “obviously racist. He wants to deport us all. And he said President Biden is basically not genocidal enough and he should let Israel end its war on Gaza. And the current president has knowingly and willingly, politically and financially, supported an obvious genocide in Gaza,” Ziyadeh told Al Jazeera.

“There are no less than two evils here,” she added. “The card we’ve been dealt as voters and as Americans is frankly unfair.”

Ceasefire proposal

Meanwhile, Biden falsely claimed that all parties except Hamas had agreed to his ceasefire proposal and that he had achieved universal agreement, including from Israel, for his three-step plan to end the war.

“Everyone, from the United Nations Security Council to the G7 to the Israelis and (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu, have endorsed the plan I put forward,” Biden said.

“The only one who wants the war to continue is Hamas.”

He reiterated his view that Hamas had been “significantly weakened” by Israel, adding that the group “should be eliminated.”

Biden also pointed out that he is the first president in recent history whose soldiers are not exposed to danger abroad.

Meanwhile, Trump called Biden’s withdrawal from Afghanistan the “most embarrassing moment in our country’s history” and said it encouraged Russia to invade Ukraine.