Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee, appears to be facing significant opposition from Muslim voters as she continues facing a toss-up race in Michigan in the weeks leading up to this year’s presidential election.
Michigan is the swing state with the largest concentration of Muslim voters, a group that overwhelmingly backed Democrats in recent presidential races. However, large swaths of those voters have been alienated by the Biden-Harris administration’s handling of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, which comes amid a wider conflict between Israel and Hamas.
President Joe Biden‘s administration has stood firmly with Israel since Hamas, a Palestinian militant group, attacked Israel last year on October 7 killing 1,200 Israelis and taking 250 others hostage. At least 42,000 Palestinians have been killed in the war that followed, the Associated Press reported, citing the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health.
At the Democratic National Convention in Chicago in August, Harris’ show of support for Palestinian statehood received one of her biggest applauses at the convention. However, during her speech, she affirmed her commitment to Israel’s security while also addressing the human cost of the conflict.
“President Biden and I are working to end this war such that Israel is secure, the hostages are released, the suffering in Gaza ends and the Palestinian people can realize their right to dignity, security, freedom and self-determination,” she said.
“The VP has made several public statements sharing her perspective and position on the war in Gaza since becoming the nominee,” the Harris campaign wrote in a statement via email to Newsweek. “The campaign is engaging with the Muslim and Arab American community on the ground, meeting them where they are.”
Harris’ campaign also mentioned a list of various endorsements from major Muslim voter groups and officials, which included Representative Ilhan Omar, a Minnesota Democrat, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, Michigan Arab American activist Ismael Ahmed and U.S. Senator George Helmy, a New Jersey Democrat.
Harris also received backing from Emgage Action—a group that “educates and mobilizes Muslim American voters”—the Black Muslim Leadership Council and Lebanese Americans for Harris, among others.
Vice President Kamala Harris is seen on October 10 in Chandler, Arizona. Harris, the Democratic nominee, appears to be facing significant opposition from Muslim voters as she continues facing a toss-up race in Michigan in…
Vice President Kamala Harris is seen on October 10 in Chandler, Arizona. Harris, the Democratic nominee, appears to be facing significant opposition from Muslim voters as she continues facing a toss-up race in Michigan in the weeks leading up to this year’s presidential election.
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Latest polling across battleground states—which includes Michigan within a margin of error, is finding Harris leading former President Donald Trump, the GOP nominee, by around 3 points in Michigan (49 to 46 percent), according to the latest Quinnipiac and Bloomberg/Morning Consult polls, and only 2 points (49 to 47 percent), according to the latest Washington Post-Schar School poll of likely voters.
Major poll aggregators Nate Silver‘s Silver Bulletin, ABC News’ FiveThirtyEight and RealClear Politics have even tighter averages, with 0.8 percent, 0.7 percent and 0.2 percent, respectively.
Each candidate has a troubled past when it comes to the country’s Muslim population. The Democrats have lost standing and support after backing Israel while Trump enacted a travel ban on seven Arab, Muslim-dominant countries almost immediately after taking office in 2017.
Meanwhile, the dissatisfaction among Muslim voters in Michigan due to the way Biden and Harris have handled Gaza led to a significant “Uncommitted” protest vote during the Democratic primary.
Biden lost outright to “Uncommitted” in Dearborn, the first U.S. city with an Arab majority population and home to the largest mosque in North America.
Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud’s office told Newsweek that it did not have “a comment or insight to provide at this time” when it was contacted.
The group “Abandon Harris”—an extension of the Civil Rights Alliance of America—cited the administration’s “policy of death in Gaza” as one of its driving motivations to “punish Harris.” The group endorsed Green Party candidate Jill Stein for president instead.
The Harris campaign noted to Newsweek that Harris has “called out the humanitarian crisis in Gaza” and urged Israel to “follow humanitarian law,” and that the Biden-Harris administration has provided temporary protected status and work authorizations for thousands of eligible Lebanese nationals.
Hassan Abdel Salam, co-founder of the “Abandon Harris” campaign, is seen at an event with Workers Strike Back during an event endorsing Green Party candidate Jill Stein in Dearborn, Michigan, on October 6.
Hassan Abdel Salam, co-founder of the “Abandon Harris” campaign, is seen at an event with Workers Strike Back during an event endorsing Green Party candidate Jill Stein in Dearborn, Michigan, on October 6.
Dominic Gwinn/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images
However, Trump has made some surprising headway thanks to a major endorsement from Mayor Amer Ghalib from Hamtramck, Michigan—the only city in the U.S., with an all-Muslim government and the first Muslim-majority population in the country.
Ghalib, a Democrat, posted on Facebook that “it’s looking good” for Trump as he announced his “support and endorsement for the former, and hopefully, the next president of the United States.”
Ghalib’s office did not respond to a request for comment by Newsweek via email by the time of publication.
At the same time, Harris has received endorsements from three Hamtramck City Councilmen: Mohammed Alsomiri, Mohammed Hassan and Muhith Mahmood—all of whom have said the Trump campaign reached out to them several times over the past few months hoping to gain their endorsement, according to The Detroit News.
According to the 2020 U.S. national census, around 4.5 million American citizens identify as Muslim, of which around a quarter of a million live in Michigan.
Michigan in the 2016 presidential election went for Trump by a margin of just under 11,000 votes, while Biden won the state in 2020 by around 154,000 votes.
Michigan is one of the “Blue Wall” states that famously voted for the Democrats over a 30-year period until Trump seemed to smash it in 2016, winning Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania.
Biden restored that support in 2020, and political analysts view these states once more as the clearest path to victory for Harris. Failure to win these states would make it incredibly difficult for Harris to win the election.
The Harris campaign continues to pile six-figure investment into digital outreach, including WhatsApp channels for Muslim and Arab American voters to share campaign messages and targeted ads to reach those same voters online.