Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump made appeals to Muslim and Arab American voters on Friday—key voting blocs in Michigan.
During her rally in Waterford Township, Michigan, Harris spoke about the “very difficult” year and pledged anew to help end to the Israel-Hamas war.
“This year has been very difficult, given the scale of death and destruction in Gaza and given the civilian casualties and displacement in Lebanon,” she said.
Her comments come just days after the death of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, who was killed Wednesday by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) during fighting in Rafah. Sinwar is considered the architect of the deadly October 7, 2023, attack that left 1,200 people dead in Israel.
Harris cited Sinwar’s death as an opportunity to utilize “diplomacy” to resume talks between the two warring factions to release hostages and initiate a ceasefire.
If elected president, she pledged to “do everything in my power to achieve these goals.”
Trump and Harris both crisscrossed Michigan on Friday in an effort to net support from the swing state’s voters ahead of the election. Trump’s focus included enclaves that have significant Arab American and North African American populations.
Though Muslim Americans in Michigan have tended to cast ballots for Democratic presidential candidates in the past, recent polls have shown a fissure in that loyalty amid concerns over how the Biden administration’s has handled the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
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For his part, Trump is working to make inroads with a group who was directly impacted by a travel ban during his administration targeting Muslim countries. He has since said he would reinstate the ban and broaden it to include refugees from Gaza.
During a stop in Hamtramck, Trump highlighted his endorsement from the city’s mayor, Amer Ghalib.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, more than 300,000 of the city’s residents are of North African or Middle Eastern ancestry, and the city elected an all-Muslim city council back in 2022.
During the event, Trump asked Brian Pannebecker, the founder of Auto Workers for Trump, “Do you have a little Arab blood in you?”
Weighing in on Sinwar, Trump said he “was not a good person” and noted to the press that he feels “Biden is trying to hold [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu] back…He probably should be doing the opposite, actually.”
