Michigan is one of three “blue wall” states that will be key to determining the result of the presidential election coming Nov. 5. With approximately 400,000 Arab and Muslim Americans residing in the state, most in the Metro Detroit area, Arab and Muslim Americans are an important voter bloc Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump have been competing for throughout their campaigns.
With Israel’s military campaign in Gaza and Lebanon escalating, the Harris-Walz campaign has faced extreme skepticism from Arab and Muslim American voters, many of whom are critical of Harris’ role in President Joe Biden’s administration. In Michigan’s February primaries, more than 100,000 voters voted “uncommitted,” signaling their disapproval of the Biden administration’s handling of the ongoing Israeli military campaign in Gaza. Since Biden’s withdrawal from the race, the Harris campaign has focused on trying to win back some of these skeptical voters.
In 2016, Trump won Michigan against Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton by 10,704 votes, becoming the first Republican to win the state since George H.W. Bush in 1988. In 2020, Arab and Muslim Americans helped Biden win the state by a margin of approximately 154,000 votes, mainly due to their opposition to Trump’s immigration policies. While in office, Trump boasted harsh immigration restrictions and a “Muslim ban,” a blocked executive order that attempted to ban travel from seven predominantly Muslim countries to the U.S. and suspended the resettlement of Syrian refugees. Trump has vowed to reinstate his former travel ban targeting Muslim countries and expand it to include Palestinian refugees.
The department of Arab and Muslim American Studies hosted Youssef Chouhoud, a political science assistant professor at Christopher Newport University, on Oct. 23 for a talk about his research about Arab and Muslim communities’ shifting sentiments on this year’s U.S. presidential election. The event, titled “Arab and Muslim Americans and the U.S. Presidential Election: Uncommitted or Unrequited?” aimed to encourage students and community members to recognize the importance of the Arab and Muslim communities in the upcoming election, according to AMAS director Juan Cole.
According to Chouhoud’s research, Muslim Americans are heavily concerned by the candidates’ stance on international policy, specifically regarding the ongoing military campaign in Gaza. Chouhoud’s survey found that 90 out of 100 Arab and Muslim participants viewed foreign policy in the Middle East as their top priority and believed that a candidate must have the same position as them on the issue in order to earn their vote. Chouhoud told The Michigan Daily this trend was especially prominent among youth voters and emphasized the importance of a vote in Michigan, which is not only a swing state but the state with the highest population and percentage of Arab Americans in the country.
“Looking at the data, youth voters are more inclined to take a pretty strong position when it comes to the crisis in Gaza,” Chouhoud said. “What I encourage (voters) to do is think through the ramifications of your vote because your vote means a whole lot more here in Michigan than it does elsewhere in the country.”
In an interview with The Michigan Daily, LSA senior Ghadeer Alrubaye, co-president of the Iraqi American Union at the University of Michigan, said Arab Americans are facing a difficult year, including feelings of betrayal by politicians and academic institutions amid rising tensions in the Middle East.
“It’s not just skepticism, it’s a lot of betrayal,” Alrubaye said. “I think that this year in particular has been the hardest for Arab Americans since 9/11. You’ve seen not only the most publicized genocide of our people and ethnic cleansing, but villainization, brutalization and coercion of silence on campuses.”
In August, Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the Democratic vice presidential candidate, held a rally in the Metro-Detroit area where about four individuals from Students Allied for Freedom and Equality interrupted Harris during her remarks, declaring their opposition to Israel’s ongoing military campaign in Gaza. Harris criticized the protesters for causing division within Democratic voters.
“You know what?” Harris said. “If you want Donald Trump to win, then say that. Otherwise, I am speaking.”
Since then, Harris has changed her approach to skeptical voters and carefully navigated efforts to regain the support of Arab and Muslim American voters lost by the Biden-Harris administration. While consistently affirming Israel’s right to defend itself, Harris has expressed concern about the rising casualties and worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza. After Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar was killed by Israel, Harris remarked at a campaign rally in Oakland County on Oct. 18 that Sinwar’s death presented an opportunity to end the conflict.
“Sinwar’s death can and must be a turning point,” Harris said. “Everyone must seize this opportunity to finally end the war in Gaza, bring the hostages home and end the suffering once and for all. And I continue to believe diplomacy is the answer to beginning lasting stability across the Israel-Lebanon border.”
In a survey conducted by the Arab News, 45% of Arab and Muslim Americans are supporting Trump and 43% are vouching for Harris, while 4% are backing Green Party candidate Jill Stein. The latest data from the survey suggests that Trump is leading Harris 39% to 33% on which candidate voters believe is more likely to resolve the Israeli military campaign in Gaza. The two candidates are tied at 38% on who would “be better for the Middle East overall.”
These findings are poignant considering Trump’s presidency was marked by a strong pro-Israel stance. In 2018, he made the historic decision to move the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, a city whose status is highly contested by Israelis and Palestinians.
One of Trump’s most notable endorsements came from Hamtramck Mayor Amer Ghalib, who leads the only all-Muslim city government in the U.S. Ghalib, a Muslim immigrant from Yemen, wrote in a post on Facebook that he believes Trump should be the next president due to his strong fundamental principles.
“President Trump and I may not agree on everything, but I know he is a man of principles,” Ghalib wrote. “I’ll not regret my decision no matter what the outcome would be, and I’m ready to face the consequences.”
Trump reposted Ghalib’s endorsement on his Truth Social page shortly after the announcement.
Harris has also garnered support from Muslim leaders such as Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, the first Muslim individual to be elected to Congress.
Ellison wrote in a post on X that he believes that Harris will lead the Democratic Party, while championing consumer protection, public safety and reproductive rights.
“I’m joining Joe Biden in endorsing Kamala Harris for President of the United States,” Ellison said. “Harris is a fantastic choice to lead the Democratic ticket. She fought to protect consumers as California’s attorney general. She worked to improve public safety as a district attorney. She stood up for a democracy in the Senate. And there has been no more effective champion for reproductive rights than Vice President Harris.”
Alrubaye told The Daily he felt the Yemeni community in Hamtramck has been swayed by conservative religious values, leading some Muslim voters to align with the Republican Party.
“The Hamtramck community is very Yemeni, and the Yemeni community is very conservative (and) religious,” Alrubaye said. “Muslims have been won over by republicanism because of purely religious propaganda, being anti-LGBT, being anti-abortion.”
Daily Staff Reporter Andrew Baum can be reached at asbaum@umich.edu. Daily Staff Reporter Tenzin Menrinetsang contributed reporting to this article.
The post Harris and Trump vie for support from Arab and Muslim voters in Michigan appeared first on The Michigan Daily.
Leave a Reply