OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Former President Donald Trump has received an endorsement that could shift the entire election against Democrat presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris.
Hamtramck, Mich., Mayor Amer Ghalib, who is a Muslim, appeared on stage with the former president on Friday, where he gave him his endorsement, The Detroit News reported.
“As you know, President Trump keeps saying that our country is in decline, and the ship is sinking. So sometimes it’s wise enough to sail against the wave so we can get to the shore safely under the leadership of President Trump and that’s why I endorsed President Trump in this area in Wayne County,” the mayor, who heads a city with the first all-Muslim city council in the United States, said.
“We had a history of disconnect and miscommunication with the Republican Party and the party of common sense. Now we are here to end that disconnect,” the mayor, a Democrat who leads the first Muslim-majority city in the nation, said. “And (Trump’s) visit today is to show respect and appreciation for our community,”
When the former president spoke, he said that his Middle East policy would have the goal of achieving peace.
“You know, we all ultimately want one thing. We want peace in the Middle East, and we’re going to get peace in the Middle East,” he said as one man in the crowd shouted, “We trust you!”
The mayor posted on Facebook, cementing his support of the former president.
“President Trump and I may not agree on everything, but I know he is a man of principles,” the mayor said.
“Though it’s looking good, he may or may not win the election and be the 47th president of the United States, but I believe he is the right choice for this critical time. I’ll not regret my decision no matter what the outcome would be, and I’m ready to face the consequences,” he said.
“Now, let the Caravan begin its journey,” he said. “This is just the starting point.”
One activist group, “Drive for 75,” has called for a 75 percent Muslim voter turnout in order to stop the vice president from winning the key swing state, The Daily Caller reported.
WATCH: At the Trump campaign office in Hamtramck, MI, the mayor, Amer Ghalib, an Arab American who endorsed Trump in September, asks Trump if he plans on deporting LEGAL immigrants, as Dems have suggested. pic.twitter.com/TDBCeSJOGA
— Mari (@mariselapenny) October 18, 2024
The state has around 200,000 Muslim citizens, and if 75 percent of those people voted for someone other than Harris, it would be a devastating blow for her and her campaign.
Democrats have relied heavily on getting the Muslim-American vote as President Joe Biden only defeated former President Donald Trump by 154,188 votes in 2020, with around 146,000 Muslims in Michigan voting in that election.
Exit polls showed that 64 percent of Muslims nationwide voted for President Biden in 2020.
“[The Muslim American community] lost their faith in the Democratic Party and the Democratic administration, so they’re out to kind of hold them accountable. And I don’t want to necessarily say punish, but it is also a punishment vote, in a sense. I think that they’re desperate. We’re desperate. It’s also a vote of desperation. You know, we want to see an end to this bloodshed and this genocide as soon as possible,” “Drive for 75” head Rex Nazarko said to The Caller.
Others who spoke to The Caller said that they do not believe that the former president’s approach to Middle East policy would be more popular among Muslim-Americans, but that the reason for the vote against the vice president was to send a message about their power as a group.
“We’re hoping that, whether Republicans or Democrats, will not take our vote for granted. So if it is [spoiling Harris’s chances], I hope it teaches not only the Democrats but the Republicans that, you go against your voters, you go against people as well. You continue to support a genocide, you’re going to lose,” the head of the group “Abandon Biden”, which has recently changed its name to “Abandon Harris,” Democrat Khalid Turaani said.
“She parrots the same line of ‘well on Oct. 7’ and okay, there has been more than 50,000 deaths. Two-thirds of them are women and children and she can’t get past ‘well on October 7.’ And we feel that this callous disregard to the lives of Palestinian civilians and the destruction of not only their infrastructure, the entire place in Gaza has been decimated, and and she just continues to parrot the same line. Meanwhile, continuing to support the Israeli assault and the Palestinian civilians and their lives and their buildings and their every aspect of their lives is under assault,” Turaani added.
