The Abandon Biden campaign is starting again, changing its name and focus and working harder than before. Now called Abandon Harris, the movement targets unhappy Democrat voters in swing states. 

Abandon Harris shared on X that it is boosting its efforts in these critical states to gather support from Muslim Americans and their allies against Harris and her running mate, Governor Tim Walz. 

The Abandon Biden campaign started last December after the Biden administration ignored calls from activists within the Muslim American community for a ceasefire in Gaza. The movement started in Dearborn, Michigan, a city with a sizeable Muslim population. It first focused on President Biden’s re-election campaign during the primary season.  

The group argued that because the president kept supporting Israel, the community needed to send a message to the Democratic Party. The campaign’s primary goal was to punish Biden for his support for Israel’s war on Palestinians by turning as many voters as possible against him in the upcoming presidential election in November. 

While other voter outreach efforts tell voters who to vote for, the Abandon campaign takes a different approach. Its goal is to get Americans to vote for someone other than the Democratic Party. 

The movement started in Dearborn, Michigan, a city with a large Muslim population. It first focused on President Biden’s re-election campaign during the primary season. The group argued that because the president kept supporting Israel, the community needed to send a message to the Democratic Party. 

And now, Abandon Harris is taking up the fight where Abandon Biden left off. 

“This action is a direct response to Kamala Harris’ support for the ongoing genocide in Gaza,” the X post read. 

During the primary season, the group spread its influence from Michigan to Wisconsin, another crucial swing state for the November election. Both states have been closely decided in the last two presidential elections, so the lack of support from a group that has voted Democratic in the past 20 years could make a big difference in these states. 

Arab and Muslim Americans and young Americans are the most prominent groups of uncommitted voters. However, many Black and Hispanic voters, crucial to Biden’s win in 2020, are also becoming “uncommitted.” 

The “uncommitted” movement got 10 percent of the vote in New Mexico and 9 percent in New Jersey, where there are many Arab Americans. However, these numbers are lower than in Michigan, where over 101,000 voters chose to vote against Biden, and Minnesota, where 45,000 votes earned the movement 11 delegates, the most of any state. 

A spokesperson mentioned that they don’t think Harris can earn back their support. But they don’t want people to vote for Trump, either. They remember Trump moving the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem and his actions during Gaza’s Great March of Return. The spokesman said they have always told voters not to support the Democratic or Republican parties. 

Abandon Harris is urging people not to skip the 2024 election. They want everyone to vote against genocide and support third-party candidates to show they reject any party involved in or “supporting genocide.” 

This has led to a worried Harris campaign offering bribes and high-level jobs to third-party candidate Cornel West in exchange for leaving the race. They have also targeted Green Party candidate Jill Stein, smeared her campaign, and called for her removal from the ballot. 

When Biden dropped out of the race in July and Harris took his place as the Democratic candidate, it looked like the movement might support the ticket. However, there are still problems because Harris hasn’t fully agreed with the campaign leaders’ wishes. 

Harris hasn’t taken a different stance on the Gaza war than Biden. She has mostly agreed with the White House, calling for the war to end and showing sympathy for the loss of Palestinian lives.  

But, also like Biden, she hasn’t pushed for stopping arms sales to Israel, which is important to the uncommitted movement.  

As the Who once cautioned in their 1971 hit song, “Won’t be Fooled Again,” “Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.” Abandon Harris is a reboot of Abandon Biden, just as Harris herself is a reboot of Biden.