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Analyst and commentator Sami Hamdi discussed the upcoming presidential elections in a lecture at the Islamic Community Center in Tempe, Arizona, which was streamed live on the center’s Facebook page on January 19, 2024. Calling the U.S. "the eye of Sauron" and complaining about actually having to go to the U.S. Embassy and apply for a visa, he said that Muslims in the U.S. have the opportunity to punish President Biden for the genocide he is committing in Gaza. He said: “I get Trump was a racist, but I see you all here having survived four years of Trump.” In contrast, Hamdi said that 20,000 Palestinians were slaughtered because Biden doesn’t like the color of those people and he likes the Zionists. He said that the choice isn’t between Trump and Biden, but whether to uphold the dignity of the Muslims in America by punishing Biden who “committed a genocide” or humiliation. He also stressed that this is the first time in U.S. history that Muslims had ever had "the ability to punish a candidate." Hamdi qualified that these are his opinions and not those of the Islamic center, so this would not harm the center’s tax exemption. A member of the audience pledged: “We will not just abandon Biden, by Allah, we will punish him!” “We will never forget, and it’s not just Biden, it’s every Democrat and it’s every Republican!” He was met with a round of applause.
Sami Hamdi: "For those of you who don't know, I never really wanted to come to America when I was growing up. I said, why would I go to the Eye of Sauron? Why would I go to the center where all of this... You know...
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"Then I had to go to the embassy to actually ask for a visa, which I felt was very humiliating thing to do. To go to the embassy [and say]: 'Please let me into your country.'
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"The point that I'm making is that when it comes to the U.S. and the Muslim vote here in the U.S. in particular, the reality is that now the Muslims have the ability to punish Biden. There are some who will say: 'Sami,' – I heard this from a couple of imams, particularly in Washington – 'Sami, you are spreading dangerous ideas. You are telling people to abandon Biden.'
"The views expressed by the speaker are those of the speaker alone and not of the organization. They have nothing to do with my message. They didn't ask what I would say. I didn't tell them what I would say. Therefore, they still fall in line for those tax purposes, those reasons... The law that you guys have here.
"They were saying: 'You are spreading dangerous ideas by telling people to punish Biden. We worked very hard for 30 years to build influence in these parties, in the Democrat party, in order to favor the Muslims.'
"Of course, in my mind, I was like: 'Yeah, all this influence... Inshallah, you couldn't stop a genocide.'
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"Some people say: 'Sami, he's gaslighting. He doesn't understand Trump was a racist.' I get [that] Trump was a racist. But I see you all here, having survived four years of Trump. If I were to tell Biden: 'Bring me back those 20,000 Palestinians', he would never bring them back. And they were slaughtered for no other reason than [that] Biden wants to uphold the injustice of depriving a people of their land, turfing them from their homes, simply because he likes the Zionists and doesn't like the color of the other people.
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"The choice for the Muslims in November is not between Biden and Trump. The choice is between whether the Muslims want to uphold their dignity and punish someone who committed genocide, or whether they want to live a life of humiliation and say that to be honest, not even a genocide could turn me against the genocider.
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"There is no precedent in U.S. history of the Muslims ever demonstrating the ability to punish a candidate. This is the first time where you have the chance to do so. The only two minorities that have the ability to punish are the Zionists and the Blacks, the African Americans – shout out. This will be the first the Muslims demonstrate the ability to punish."
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Audience member: "We will not just abandon Biden, by Allah, we will punish him."
Hamdi: "Allahu Akbar."
Audience member: "We will never forget. And it's not just Biden, It is every Democrat and every Republican. This is going to be the first and this is going to be the only question we ask. We learned a lesson. And we are not just going to abandon, we are going to punish him."
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