America is full of contradictions. This is the story of one of them, an Arab American who votes for Donald Trump.
He is a man who claims that immigrants “taint the blood of the country,” calls them “terrorists,” and wants to “ban Muslims from entering the country.”
Still, as he traveled around Michigan, he noticed that they liked him.
This is not just a story about the Middle East war. It goes beyond a desire to punish Biden and now Harris. It’s more than war.
In places like Dearborn and Hamtramck, it doesn’t take much to discover that a dynamic shift in perspective is occurring, and that it is – as is often the case – about a perceived sense of abandonment. It doesn’t take long, but there’s a special twist here.
My journey started at my local high school. Imagine a place like you would imagine in a movie. That’s it.
The outside is made of red brick, and the inside is lined with lockers. Yellow buses, the American flag, and the Pledge of Allegiance.
It’s a perfect reflection of America, but it also has a diversity that defies stereotypes and a perspective that it can be.
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Frontier International Academy is located in the heart of Hamtramck, America’s only Muslim-majority city, and our student body reflects that demographic.
For the first time, voters and second-generation immigrants discuss politics between “recess” American football games.
“I don’t know what she’s going to offer or what she’s going to do. So I think it’s safer to support Donald Trump,” Jubran Ali, 18, told me.
Image: Jubran Ali, 18, thinks Trump is a “safer bet” than Harris.
“I actually ask people around me to see what they’re voting for, and most of them are voting for Donald Trump,” said Edris Alhadi, also 18.
Michigan is one of seven swing states in the country that will determine who wins the White House.
A small shift of voters to the left or right will determine which direction this country will take.
In 2016, Trump became the first Republican to win Michigan since 1988. Trump defeated Hillary Clinton by less than 11,000 votes.
Four years later, in 2020, Joe Biden won the state by just 154,188 votes, or 2.8%, out of more than 5.5 million votes cast.
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After the microphone was cut off, Trump walked to the stage in silence.
Harris took a lot of risks in the FOX interview, which may not have paid off.
Michigan has the largest number of Arab Americans in the United States. They represent an important voting bloc, which Democrats may have taken for granted.
Amer Gharib is a Democrat, and a photo in his office with President Joe Biden reflects his political roots.
But something significant has happened since that photo was taken.
On Friday, Mayor Ghalib welcomed Donald Trump to the city. The visit comes weeks after he endorsed the former president.
Image: Democratic Mayor Amer Gharib, who supported the former president.
“Why Trump?” I asked.
“Well… it’s a combination of two things: disappointment and hope. Disappointment with the current administration and its domestic and international response, and hope that the new administration led by Trump will do something different. ”
Our conversation was revealing in many ways. I had come to this city expecting to hear outrage over American policy in the Middle East. After all, the people here have deep ties to this region.
But it is only now becoming clear that the rightward shift among Arab Americans is also the result of a gradual leftward shift by the Democratic Party.
It’s about real wars in the Middle East, but it’s also about the culture wars.
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Last year, an attempt to fly a Pride flag on city grounds was thwarted by the mayor and his team.
Mayor Ghalib said, “There is too much aggression and an attempt to force certain values on the majority of this community…on schools, on public facilities, on city hall, and the Democratic Party “We’re not doing anything to stop change.” dynamics. “
Asked if anyone on Kamala Harris’ team had contacted him about his concerns before or after endorsing Trump, he said, “No, no.”
“Does that surprise you?”
“They think I’m a fake Democrat. I’ve always voted Democratic here.”
President Trump’s visit to the city is the culmination of months of groundwork by members of Team Trump and shows how much they value this state and its demographic.
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So, what is President Trump’s pro-Israel stance? When he arrived in Detroit last week, he praised Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“Well, I don’t think it could be worse than what’s going on right now,” the mayor said.
This is a sentiment that resonates here. The idea is that no one is worse than the Democrats when it comes to Israel and Gaza, and domestically, Trump would be better for this community when it comes to social issues and the economy.
If you drive west from Hamtramck through the suburbs of Detroit, you’ll arrive in Dearborn.
About half of the population here is Arab-American, most of them from Lebanon. A conversation over coffee with local environmental activist Samra Lukman was alarming for Harris’ camp.
Image: Samra Lukman, who voted for Clinton in 2016 and wrote under the name Sanders in 2020
She said she voted for Hillary Clinton in 2016 and wrote Bernie Sanders’ name on her ballot in 2020. And this year?
“I’m voting for Trump,” Sumler said. “Why?” you ask.
“Genocide. Policy-wise, to be honest, I don’t like any of the Republican policies…I would still vote for him because one of the things I dislike more than all the other policies. Because it’s genocide…and that’s what it is.” That’s the sentiment of the entire community. ”
I asked her why she thinks Trump is better for the Arab cause.
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“Trump is a wild card…Will he do exactly the same thing as Kamala, or worse, or even more? But I don’t know what the Democrats are doing. We know for sure and they’re going to continue to do that.”
This journey through communities that now feel forgotten and unexplored brings me to the place where they all began: the old Ford factory in Detroit that drew so many Middle Eastern immigrants here generations ago. It ends with
There, I met with local Yemeni-American Democratic Party leaders and shared my surprising conclusion.
“I think the damage is significant. I can assure you it’s not just a Michigan problem. This is a national phenomenon.”
“I’m very worried,” Abdulhakim Al-Sadeh said.
Image: Abdulhakim Alsadeh
I asked him if he thought Democrats messed up this campaign.
“Yes, I believe that. I really do,” he said. “Former President Donald Trump, the Republican candidate, reached out to the Yemeni American community. They sat down with him and talked with him.”
“Everyone is worried,” he said.
It doesn’t take many to shake up this state and streamline your path to the White House.
For all its contradictions, many here are leaning toward Trump.