The Democratic mayor of the only Muslim-run city in the United States has endorsed former president Donald Trump, giving him a boost in a key swing state.
In a surprising political turn, Amer Ghalib, the mayor of Hamtramck, Michigan, threw his support behind Trump’s bid for the White House in the 2024 presidential election. Ghalib said on Sunday that the Republican candidate is a “man of principles” and “the right choice for this critical time,” despite their disagreements on key political issues.
Despite acknowledging some disagreements with the former president, Ghalib highlighted Trump’s principles and his potential to address pressing issues.
Hamtramck, near Detroit, is notable for its Muslim leadership and population, with over 40% of its residents being of the Muslim faith. Hamtramck, which has a population of about 28,000 people, made headlines in 2021 when it became the first US city to elect an all-Muslim City Council and a Muslim mayor.
Ghalib’s endorsement follows a private meeting with Trump, during which they discussed various issues, including concerns affecting Arab and Yemeni Americans.
Ghalib, who immigrated to the US from Yemen when he was 17, offered his support to Trump a little less than a week after meeting the Republican candidate before a town hall in the Michigan city of Flint.
Michigan is one of seven key swing states expected to decide the outcome of November’s contest between Trump and his Democratic Party rival, Vice President Kamala Harris.
Opinion polls suggest a tight race between Trump and Harris both nationally and in battlegrounds such as Michigan.
In the most recent average of polls compiled by The New York Times, Harris leads Trump in Michigan by 50 percent to 47 percent.
Trump won Michigan in the 2016 election against Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton, becoming the first Republican to prevail in the state since George HW Bush in 1988.
President Joe Biden flipped the state back to the Democrats in 2020, defeating Trump by a margin of about 150,000 votes.
Muslim-American anger over the Biden administration’s support for Israel’s war on Gaza has become a concern for Democrats as they face razor-thin races in the battleground states.
In a poll released by the Council on American-Islamic Relations in August, just 12 percent of Muslim voters in Michigan expressed support for Harris, with 18 percent backing Trump and 40 percent supporting the Green Party’s Jill Stein.
On Thursday, the Uncommitted National Movement, a grassroots campaign aimed at pressuring Democrats to end their support for the war, announced that it would not endorse Harris after her team failed to meet a September 15 deadline to respond to a request for a meeting with families of Palestinians killed in Gaza.
