"'He's the only hope' Arab Americans desert Democrats and back ex-president over Gaza"

Arab Americans desert Democrats and back ex-president over Gaza

- Stephen Starr

That the Trump campaign would open an office in Hamtramck, a tiny city of around 28,000 people north of downtown Detroit, less than a month before the election, speaks to a particular curiosity of the 2024 presidential race.

About 40% of Hamtramck's residents are of Middle Eastern or north African descent, 60% are believed to be Muslim Americans, and the city has an all-Muslim council.

Last week, as Israel was expanding its war into Lebanon and continuing its daily bombardment of Gaza, scores of locals - many immigrants from Bangladesh, Yemen and other Arab- or Muslim-majority countries - lined Joseph Campau Avenue to attend the official opening of Trump's office. "Peace in the Middle East will not happen under a Harris administration - she's too weak," said Barry Altman, a Republican party candidate who is running for a seat in Michigan's house of representatives next month, and who was running the new Trump campaign office on a recent afternoon. "Trump is the only hope for peace." Altman is not alone. Last month, Amer Ghalib, the Democratic mayor of Hamtramck, announced his endorsement of Donald Trump after meeting the former president at a rally in Flint, Michigan, where the pair spoke for about 20 minutes.