Arab American leaders in Dearborn, Michigan, had repeatedly warned Vice President Kamala Harris about the potential backlash from their community. The cause of their concern was the VP’s perceived alignment with President Joe Biden’s support for Israel amidst the ongoing Gaza conflict. They urged Harris to separate herself from this stance, expressing their fear of an electoral backlash. However, their pleas fell on deaf ears.
Instead of addressing their concerns, Harris made moves that further alienated Arab American voters. She refused to host a Palestinian American onstage at the Democratic National Convention. She also shut down protesters at campaign rallies who criticized her solidarity with Biden over the Gaza conflict. Adding fuel to the fire, she sent pro-Israel surrogates to Michigan, which only increased the resentment among the Arab American community.
As a result, many in Dearborn feel like their message has finally been heard, especially with President-elect Donald Trump’s resounding victory. Michael Sareini, Dearborn city council president, remarked, “This stance on endless wars and killing of innocent women and children has got to end.”
Arab American Voters Shifted Support
Unofficial results indicated that Trump received the most votes in Dearborn, with 42 percent, while Harris only managed 36 percent. This was a significant 33 percentage point drop from when Biden won Dearborn in 2020. Green party candidate Jill Stein collected 18 percent of the votes. In Arab American neighborhoods, the drop for Harris was even more dramatic. Trump dominated in the Eastern and Southern parts of Dearborn, where a high concentration of Arab Americans live.
Several Dearborn leaders suggested that Trump’s social conservatism and isolationist “America First” foreign policy made Arabs more comfortable with backing a Republican. The community, which had previously swayed away from the GOP following the events of 9/11, saw a resonance in Trump’s legal troubles with their own experiences of feeling targeted by the justice system.
Rejection of Biden and Harris
However, the Dearborn leaders stressed that this shift towards Trump does not indicate a permanent realignment with the Republican party. Instead, it was more an explicit rejection of Biden and Harris. Dearborn still predominantly voted Democrat at every other level of the ballot, from U.S. Rep. Rashida Talib down to state lawmakers and school board members.
Osama Siblani, publisher of the Arab American News, put it succinctly by stating, “They didn’t vote for Trump because they believe Trump is the best candidate. No, they voted for Trump because they want to punish the Democrats and Harris.”
Trump Seizes the Opportunity
Seeing the Arab community’s growing resentment towards Harris, the Trump campaign saw an opportunity. In the final days before the election, they flooded residents with anti-Harris messages, and Trump himself paid a visit to Dearborn. Trump declared at a restaurant surrounded by Arab Americans that under his presidency, “we’re going to have peace in the Middle East — but not with the clowns that you have running the U.S. right now.”
In contrast, Harris never personally visited Dearborn, which only exacerbated the community’s disillusionment. The sentiment was perhaps best captured by Amer Zahr, a Palestinian American activist, who said, “The Democrats did this. They created a situation where Donald Trump was walking around our city, putting his feet up, shaking hands, kissing babies and Harris didn’t even enter our community. She was afraid.”
In the end, the Arab American community’s message was loud and clear. They demanded a shift in U.S. foreign policy, and their electoral choices reflected that. Only time will tell if this shift will have lasting repercussions on future elections.
