How did Kamala Harris lose Michigan with Arab votes?

Contrary to recent polls that gave Kamala Harris a strong chance of winning Michigan in the presidential election, Donald Trump won the state, where the number of Arab votes is about 400,000, according to the numbers announced before the election, while the number of Muslim votes is about 250,000.

In Dearborn, which is described as the heart of the Arab-American population, Trump received 42.5% of the votes, compared to 36% for Kamala Harris, while Green Party candidate Jill Stein, who was supported by Arabs and Muslims, received about 18% of the votes.

The numbers indicate that voters frustrated with the Biden administration and Harris campaign’s stance and their support for the genocide in Gaza have changed their allegiance to former President Trump, after Biden had received overwhelming support in the previous elections, when he received 74% of the city’s votes. The most prominent Arab Americans who refused to vote for Kamala Harris were Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib, who retained her seat in the council with a landslide victory of 71%. Abdullah Hammoud, the mayor of Dearborn, also refused to vote for her, as did Sam Baydoun, the elected Democratic government commissioner in Wayne County in the city, as he explained in a special statement to “Al-Araby Al-Jadeed.”

Sam Baydoun, a Democratic delegate of Lebanese origin, and the Democratic Party candidate for re-election in the state, said: “I refused to vote for both of them (Trump and Harris), because Kamala Harris and Biden have refused to respond to our demands for an end to the war in Gaza for more than a year, and they continue to support genocide and arm Israel, and at the same time Trump is the one who moved the embassy to Israel, who imposed a ban on Muslims, and who threatens to expel our students from universities if they demonstrate.”

He added to Al-Araby Al-Jadeed: “As an American of Lebanese origin from the south, I cannot vote for either of them, and we see the Israeli aggression with American support and the killing of children, women and civilians,” stressing the need for “Democrats to learn the lesson and look at the impact of the Arab vote.”

Over the past months, Democrats have treated the Arab and Muslim voice with complete disdain and disregard, to the point that Kamala Harris did not take a single photo with an Arab or Muslim community throughout her election campaign, and she also refused to allow a Palestinian doctor or any other representative to go on stage at the last Democratic National Convention, in addition to expelling Arabs and Muslims who protested the war in Gaza.

In return, Trump was keen to communicate with the Arab and Muslim community and went to their headquarters in Dearborn in a café. He also went to the Yemeni community in Hamtramck and sat with imams and representatives of the community. He agreed with them to stop the war in Gaza and took pictures with groups wearing clothes that represent their identity and culture. He also invited some imams to come to his election rallies and give speeches calling on Arabs and Muslims to vote for him.

Hamtramck has a large Arab community of Yemeni and Muslim origins, which Kamala Harris won by 46% compared to 42% for Trump. However, looking at these numbers and comparing them to 2020 reveals the preference of Arab and Muslim voters in the state for Trump, as Yemenis, Pakistanis, Bangladeshis, Lebanese and others voted for him.

Sources within the Arab and Muslim community in Michigan revealed to Al-Araby Al-Jadeed the promises made by Republican Party candidate Donald Trump to them in order to obtain their votes. These promises constitute Trump’s plans for the Middle East during his presidency.

Trump and his campaign promised Yemeni Americans in Michigan that the Middle East war would not spill over into Yemen, promising greater stability for their country. Public statements from the Yemeni community in Hamtramck and the city’s mayor, Amir Ghaleb, after their meeting with Trump indicated that he had promised to end the war in Gaza and that he represented them in preserving family and community values, but behind the scenes they were discussing details about Yemen itself.

The second undisclosed deal that Trump and his campaign made was with American voters of Pakistani origin. To get their votes, Trump made promises of more economic support for their country, and Trump campaign negotiators promised that he would help release Imran Khan and improve the economic situation in their country.

The third undisclosed deal that Trump made with a group of Americans of Bangladeshi descent was to promise them to help bring stability to this country, which witnessed a major crisis after the escape of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on August 5, following the outbreak of demonstrations that swept the country and led to the deaths of hundreds, and an interim government was formed headed by Muhammad Yunus, which faces major challenges, foremost among which is defining the role of the army and moving the wheel of the economy.

Source | Al-Araby Al-Jadeed