DEARBORN, Michigan — Former President Donald Trump became the first major presidential candidate to visit the Arab American community in Dearborn, Michigan, as he hopes to win over disaffected Democrats upset over the Biden administration’s handling of the Israel–Hamas war.
Trump got a warm welcome at the Great Commoner, a halal cafe, Friday afternoon before a rally in Warren, Michigan, roughly 35 minutes away.
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“As Arab Americans, we unite against the betrayal of those in power,” said cafe owner Albert Abbas, who said he looked to Trump to find peace in the Middle East.
“We look to a Trump presidency with hope, envisioning a time where peace flourishes, particularly in Lebanon and Palestine, maintaining the integrity of our borders,” he added.
Trump, who has campaigned on preventing a third world war, said, “We want to have peace on Earth.”
The visit is a strategic move as Dearborn, along with the Detroit metro area, is home to the nation’s largest Arab-American population, who could be the key voting bloc that decides whether Trump or Vice President Kamala Harris wins the Wolverine State.
While Harris has sent campaign officials to meet with Arab and Muslim Americans in Detroit, Trump is ratcheting up his outreach in the final sprint of the election by visiting the Great Commoner.
The former president doesn’t necessarily need to win the Michigan voting bloc, but if enough voters refuse to back Harris after more than 101,000 voted uncommitted during the Democratic primary, it could help him win the state.
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He already has the support of Dearborn Heights Mayor Bill Bazzi and Hamtramck Mayor Amer Ghalib, and at a previous rally in Novi, Michigan, on Saturday, he brought out a group of Arab- and Muslim-American supporters.
Two Arab Americans of Lebanese descent from Birmingham, Michigan, told the Washington Examiner that they were leaning toward voting for Green Party candidate Jill Stein, citing their opposition to the alleged genocide they believe Israel is committing against civilian Palestinians living in Gaza.
The surprise Oct. 7 terrorist attack by Hamas against Israel has spurred a war that threatens stability in the Middle East.
“It’s not an endorsement,” said one Arab-American voter, who declined to give his name, about Trump’s visit in an interview at the Great Commoner.
When asked what a presidential candidate would need to do to win his vote, the second Arab-American voter bluntly stated: “What do I need from them? I need to know they’re not full of sh*t.”
He then cited his leaning toward Stein.
“I think I might. I really do,” he said about voting for a third party. “The fact that she’s neutral, she’s not bought by anybody or paid by anybody,” the voter continued.
Another voter, who chose to go by the alias Frances, said it was a positive sign that Trump was visiting Dearborn.
“I think he should come here,” said the voter, who is of mixed-race heritage and has voted for Harris. “This is probably one of the best new suburbs coming up, and it’s multicultural, and he needs to see other things that’s going on besides negative comments about the city of Detroit and all that stuff.”
Nearly 30 miles away, Steven Young Jr., a 41-year-old construction worker from Oakland County, talked of Trump’s growing appeal.
“Everybody I know is supporting Trump,” Young said. “I think he’s going to win … even the Muslim vote, I think he’s going to win a vast majority of it. I have not heard one of my Arabic-American friends, and there’s hundreds of them, say they’re not supporting Donald Trump. Now, four years ago. It was a different story.”
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Rep. Lisa McClain (R-MI) championed Trump’s efforts to court the Arab-American vote, pointing to the various endorsements he received and his record in the region when he was president.
“Two things: under President Trump, we had exactly zero wars. We had peace in the Middle East. We had the Abraham Accords, very different to the situation we have now, where the world is on fire,” said McClain. “And number two, that community wants the same thing that you and I want. We want traditional American values, and that’s what President Trump brings, and that’s the contrast between the Trump campaign and the Harris campaign.”
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Jon Steinhouse, 57, a non-Arab-American, Birmingham, Michigan resident, told the Washington Examiner that Trump could likely win over voters who are upset over the war in the Middle East as he waited for Trump to speak in Warren.
“Well, there’s already been a number of endorsements from that community,” Steinhouse said. “I think they feel like Kamala is not out for their best interests. And I do believe that if Trump were in power today, there wouldn’t be an Israeli war with Hamas and Hezbollah.”
