US ELECTION SPECIAL PODCAST: Iranian-Americans who feel betrayed by Democratic party

Nikki Namdar is a left-leaning, liberal activist, who believes in a woman’s right to choose. She’s also Iranian- American and Jewish and she’s voting for Donald Trump.

Shahin Milani is also an Iranian-American and traditionally voted democrat but this year he’s not voting at all, saying he’s disappointed in both candidates.

Speaking in a special election interview with Iran International on Eye for Iran, both Milani and Namdar, agree on one thing, despite their differing views: feeling let down by the Biden-Harris administration for policies on Iran.

Milani said he would have voted democrat had they taken a tougher stance on the Islamic Republic. He cited a lack of creativity of going beyond the Iran Nuclear Deal and gave examples where felt the current administration downplayed human rights abuses in Iran.

But when it comes to Trump, he said he just can’t vote for him.

“Voting for Donald Trump was also not an option because he did not accept the results of the last election and for me the peaceful transfer of power is the most important thing. It's the bedrock of Western liberal democracy,” said Milani.

He said he doesn’t feel like either party belongs to him, describing himself as being politically homeless.

Not voting, he believes is his only course of action.

Namdar made a shift away from the Democrats, and once a never-Trumper, she has now turned into one of an advocate of the former US president. For her, it was a grieving process to get her to that point.

“I've been historically anti-Trump,” said Namdar.

But October 7 changed everything for her.

She lost friends over disagreements after the attacks and what she described as a lack of sympathy from her friends.

“I don't agree with Trump on everything, but the fact that the biggest issue here is the Islamic Republic of Iran. That's the most important thing.”

She's a single-issue voter where taking a the traditional Republican maximum pressure approach to Iran versus the democrats policy of appeasement, takes centre stage.

The US intelligence community warned on Monday that American adversaries like Iran are intensifying disinformation efforts around the elections by promoting false narratives. In the summer, US authorities announced that Iran was funneling money to influence anti-Israel college campus protests. That for Namdar and experiencing antisemitism was a redline.

While the Iranian vote is not going to make a difference in the outcome of the US elections, this year’s candidates had a huge impact on the Iranian-American electorate and has been life changing for some like Namdar and Milani.

For more on the discussion, you can watch the full interview on YouTube or listen on Spotify, Apple, Castbox, or Amazon.