Arabs favour Biden over Trump in US election: Poll

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Democratic presidential nominee and former Vice President Joe Biden speaks at a Drive-In event with Bon Jovi at Dallas High School, Pennsylvania, on Saturday.
Democratic presidential nominee and former Vice President Joe Biden speaks at a Drive-In event with Bon Jovi at Dallas High School, Pennsylvania, on Saturday.

Riyadh - Out of 3,097 people polled across 18 Middle East and North African countries, 39% favoured Biden and 12% opted for Trump

By AFP

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Published: Sun 25 Oct 2020, 9:51 PM

Democratic nominee Joe Biden substantially leads his Republican opponent Donald Trump as the Arab world’s preferred candidate in next month’s US presidential candidate, an opinion poll indicated on Sunday.

Out of 3,097 people polled across 18 Middle East and North African countries, around 39 per cent favoured Biden while only 12 per cent opted for Trump, according to the survey carried out by British pollster YouGov and commissioned by Saudi daily Arab News.


“When asked which candidate would be better for the Arab World if elected president, most believe that neither candidate (49 per cent) would fulfil such a description, yet Biden is still considered a better option to Trump,” the survey said.

The November 3 election, in which incumbent Trump is fighting to secure a second term in office, is being closely watched across the Arab world, where the United States plays a key role.


“If the Arab world were choosing the next president, Biden would win by a landslide,” YouGov’s chief Stephan Shakespeare said.

“But that’s partly because they don’t know much about Biden — only half say they have heard of them, while nearly everyone has heard of Trump.”

Should Biden win, some 58 per cent of Arabs said he “must distance himself from the Obama administration policies.”

Biden served as vice-president in the Obama administration.

The poll suggested Trump’s 2017 decision to move the US embassy in Israel to Jerusalem proved overwhelmingly unpopular, with 89 per cent of Arabs opposing it.

The poll listed youth empowerment, the Arab-Israeli conflict and the global coronavirus pandemic among the top three concerns Arabs would like the next US president to focus on.


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