President-elect Donald Trump won the state of Michigan thanks to his overwhelming popularity among Arab American and Muslim voters who came out for Trump in the cities of Dearborn and Dearborn Heights on Tuesday.
Dearborn, the nation’s largest Arab-majority city, went for Trump 42.5%-36% over Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris, according to The Detroit News. Disappointed Harris supporters said Trump was victorious because of a "failure of Democratic leadership" that was not interested in listening to the people. Trump campaigned on a platform of peace and getting America out of foreign wars.
Trump also got 44% of the vote to Harris' 38% in Dearborn Heights, where Mayor Bill Bazzi last month endorsed the Republican. Bazzi was a regular at Trump campaign rallies across Michigan as the campaign came to a close. “I’m super excited that we have a change in an administration that didn’t care about nobody,” Bazzi told The Detroit News, who estimated he had conversations with around 1,000 people about supporting Trump.
The mayor insisted that Dearborn and Dearborn Heights voters discovered that Trump was engaged when they expressed their concerns about the ongoing and escalating war in Gaza, while both President Joe Biden and Harris appeared uninterested. Squad member Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) refused to endorse Harris when she addressed a United Auto Workers meeting.
Trump went to Dearborn on Friday ahead of the last early voting weekend and Tuesday’s Election Day and that was “crucial” to his winning in both cities, Bazzi told the outlet. “They don’t want to hear what we have to say,” said Bazzi, who served with the US Marine Corps and worked as an engineer with Ford. “But President Trump wanted to know our thoughts.”
While campaigning, Trump noted the absence of major wars while he was president and said it would be that way again if he was reelected to the presidency. He has also promised to find peace in Ukraine and the Middle East. In appealing to the yearning for peace and prosperity, Trump may have found a common passion for both Muslims and Jews who are divided over the war in Gaza.
