WASHINGTON: Kamala Harris’ campaign for US president has hired an Egyptian American lawyer and former Department of Homeland Security official to help lead outreach to Arab American voters who hold sway in some states that could help decide the Nov. 5 election, two sources told Reuters.
Brenda Abdelall would be tasked with shoring up support from a community frustrated with US support for Israel’s war in Gaza. Harris, a Democrat, has already hired Afghan American lawyer Nasrina Bargzie for outreach to Muslim Americans.
Harris’ campaign had no immediate comment on Abdelall’s hiring. Abdelall did not respond to a request for comment.
Harris is in a tight race with Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump. Votes from Muslim and Arab Americans could help decide the outcome in battleground states like Michigan, which has seen street protests over the Israel-Gaza war.
US President Joe Biden won a large share of the Arab and Muslim vote in 2020, but his support for Israel despite the huge death toll in Gaza has frustrated many community members. They launched an “uncommitted” campaign against him in the Democratic nominating contests.
Michigan, where Harris is due to visit next week, is home to one of the largest Muslim and Arab American populations in the US More than 100,000 voters cast their ballot “uncommitted” instead of Biden in the state’s primary.
Some activists say they hold Harris responsible for the Biden administration’s Israel policy and the crisis in Gaza. Following last week’s Democratic convention, pro-Palestinian activists said Harris had failed to demonstrate any break from the status quo.
Abdelall, Harris’ pick for Arab American outreach, most recently served as senior counselor to the Department of Homeland Security’s secretary. She joined the agency in January, 2021, shortly after Trump left office, to be chief of staff for the department’s civil rights office.
Abdelall, who grew up in Ann Arbor, Michigan, previously ran a food blog and website focused on Middle Eastern cuisine. She has taught Middle Eastern cooking classes at a culinary school in northern Virginia.
The war in Gaza began after on Oct. 7 after Hamas militants stormed from the enclave into southern Israel, killing 1,200 and taking more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli figures.
Israel’s Gaza campaign has since demolished swaths of the enclave, displaced nearly all its 2.3 million people multiple times, given rise to deadly hunger and disease and killed more than 40,500 people, Palestinian health officials say.
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Harris’ campaign hires Egyptian American lawyer for Arab voter outreach
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Harris’ campaign hires Egyptian American lawyer for Arab voter outreach
- Brenda Abdelall would be tasked with shoring up support from a community frustrated with US support for Israel’s war in Gaza
‘Today’ show’s Savannah Guthrie pleads for safe return of missing mother
- TV news host asks presumed captors to ‘reach out’ to family
- ‘We need to know … that she is alive,’ Guthrie says
TUCSON, Arizona: Popular US morning news anchor Savannah Guthrie posted a video message on Wednesday addressing anyone who might be holding her missing elderly mother, presumed abducted from her Arizona home this week, pleading for them to open a line of communication.
“We need to know without a doubt that she is alive and that you have her. We want to hear from you and we are ready to listen. Please, reach out to us,” the co-host of NBC’s “Today” show said in the video message posted to Instagram.
The emotional appeal came three days after Nancy Guthrie, 84, was reported missing from her home at the edge of Tucson by family members in what investigators said they believe was an abduction.
It coincided with a two-hour flurry of intense police activity at Nancy Guthrie’s home, where yellow crime-scene tape was strung up around the property for the first time this week and investigators were seen coming and going from the house.
FBI agents are assisting in the investigation.
Savannah Guthrie, 54, who appeared with her brother and sister in the video, said the family had heard media reports of a ransom note but was taking into account the fact that electronic images can be easily manipulated or faked.
The elder Guthrie was last seen on January 31 when she was dropped off at her home by relatives after having dinner with them, and she was reported missing the following day.
‘Her health is fragile’
Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos has said the elder Guthrie had limited mobility and could not have left her home unassisted, and that her disappearance was being treated by investigators as a kidnapping.
Among other concerns for Nancy Guthrie’s well-being was that her health was dependent on daily medication.
“Her health, her heart is fragile. She lives in constant pain. She is without any medicine. She needs it to survive. She needs it not to suffer,” Savannah Guthrie said during the four-minute video.
The TV journalist, who has been co-anchor of “Today” since 2012, began Wednesday’s Instagram message thanking supporters for the outpouring of prayers.
“We feel them, and we continue to believe that she feels them too. Our mom is a kind, faithful, loyal, fiercely loving woman of goodness and light. She’s funny, spunky and clever. She has grandchildren that adore her and crowd around her and cover her with kisses. She loves fun and adventure. She is a devoted friend. She is full of kindness and knowledge. Talk to her and you’ll see,” she said.
In an update on the case issued earlier in the day, the sheriff said investigators had yet to identify any suspect or person of interest in connection with the presumed abduction. A press conference is scheduled for Thursday.
Nanos said investigators were aware of reports that some media outlets had received what appeared to be ransom notes, but he did not say whether those were being taken seriously.
US President Donald Trump said in a Truth Social post that he had spoken with Savannah Guthrie to let her know that all federal law enforcement would be at the “complete disposal” of the family and local investigators.
“We are deploying all resources to get her mother home safely,” Trump wrote, adding, “GOD BLESS AND PROTECT NANCY!”
“We need to know without a doubt that she is alive and that you have her. We want to hear from you and we are ready to listen. Please, reach out to us,” the co-host of NBC’s “Today” show said in the video message posted to Instagram.
The emotional appeal came three days after Nancy Guthrie, 84, was reported missing from her home at the edge of Tucson by family members in what investigators said they believe was an abduction.
It coincided with a two-hour flurry of intense police activity at Nancy Guthrie’s home, where yellow crime-scene tape was strung up around the property for the first time this week and investigators were seen coming and going from the house.
FBI agents are assisting in the investigation.
Savannah Guthrie, 54, who appeared with her brother and sister in the video, said the family had heard media reports of a ransom note but was taking into account the fact that electronic images can be easily manipulated or faked.
The elder Guthrie was last seen on January 31 when she was dropped off at her home by relatives after having dinner with them, and she was reported missing the following day.
‘Her health is fragile’
Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos has said the elder Guthrie had limited mobility and could not have left her home unassisted, and that her disappearance was being treated by investigators as a kidnapping.
Among other concerns for Nancy Guthrie’s well-being was that her health was dependent on daily medication.
“Her health, her heart is fragile. She lives in constant pain. She is without any medicine. She needs it to survive. She needs it not to suffer,” Savannah Guthrie said during the four-minute video.
The TV journalist, who has been co-anchor of “Today” since 2012, began Wednesday’s Instagram message thanking supporters for the outpouring of prayers.
“We feel them, and we continue to believe that she feels them too. Our mom is a kind, faithful, loyal, fiercely loving woman of goodness and light. She’s funny, spunky and clever. She has grandchildren that adore her and crowd around her and cover her with kisses. She loves fun and adventure. She is a devoted friend. She is full of kindness and knowledge. Talk to her and you’ll see,” she said.
In an update on the case issued earlier in the day, the sheriff said investigators had yet to identify any suspect or person of interest in connection with the presumed abduction. A press conference is scheduled for Thursday.
Nanos said investigators were aware of reports that some media outlets had received what appeared to be ransom notes, but he did not say whether those were being taken seriously.
US President Donald Trump said in a Truth Social post that he had spoken with Savannah Guthrie to let her know that all federal law enforcement would be at the “complete disposal” of the family and local investigators.
“We are deploying all resources to get her mother home safely,” Trump wrote, adding, “GOD BLESS AND PROTECT NANCY!”
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