Donald Trump, who was elected as the 47th president of the US in the recent election, secured an interesting victory in Michigan, nearly a clean sweep in Dearborn, home to the largest Arab-American population. So, what went wrong for Democratic candidate and Vice President Kamala Harris there?
Political analysts are increasingly arguing that Arab American votes alone would not have changed the outcome, even if Harris had secured Dearborn. Nearly all the social media platforms are rife with bold claims directed at Arab-American and Latino voters, asserting that they played a pivotal role in Trump’s win.
But, according to an Instagram post by AJ+, Harris would still have lost across key swing states even if all votes for third-party candidates, like Jill Stein and Cornel West, had gone to her. Here are some of the reasons Arab American voters ditched Harris:
No tangible support for Palestine: Many Arab Americans felt betrayed as Harris ignored pro-Palestine protesters calling for military and arms sanctions against Israel.
Handling of ceasefire protests: During her campaign, Harris repeatedly showed complete disregard for pro-Palestine protesters calling for a ceasefire in Gaza, further estranging Arab-American voters.
Backing from controversial figures: Harris’s campaign was strongly endorsed by figures not much admired by Arab Americans, such as former President Bill Clinton. Clinton’s Michigan rally remarks, where he suggested that Harris’s commitment to a ceasefire “ought to be enough” for those upset by the Gaza crisis, did not go down well with the crowd.
Dick Cheney’s endorsement: Harris’s endorsement from former Vice President Dick Cheney, who was involved in military policies affecting Iraq and Guantanamo Bay, also dented her appeal among Arab Americans.
Genocide in Gaza as a red line: The ongoing violence in Gaza left many Arab Americans disinclined to vote for a candidate not fully committed to supporting a ceasefire, as stated by their slogan: “No ceasefire, no vote.”
Vote splitting in Dearborn: Arab American voters’ response in Dearborn was mixed, with some going for the Green Party’s Jill Stein — who got 18.3% of the vote in Dearborn, a rate much higher than her national average. Others did not vote for president entirely, resulting in a lower voter turnout than in 2020. About 42.5% of Dearborn voters chose Trump ultimately.
Talking to Democracy Now, Pakistani author and columnist Fatima Bhutto responded to Trump’s electoral success in the US, saying Harris, while advocating for women’s rights domestically, seemed to have turned a blind eye to the plight of women in Gaza, where violence has been reigning supreme for over a year.
“It wasn’t an aberration that he won; rather, it was an aberration that he lost in 2020,” she said.
She underscored that anyone keeping an eye on the US elections could see that the Democrats, with a weak campaign and unclear messages, were speaking to a “hall of mirrors.”
Discussing the glaring disparity, Bhutto called it “obscene” for Harris to emphasise abortion rights while ignoring the suffering of women in Gaza.
“Feminism is about liberation, not termination,” she said, pointing out the hypocrisy of Western feminism’s silence on Gaza and in the same breath condemned the Democrats’ use of celebrities as a campaign strategy while mothers in Gaza faced unimaginable losses.
Replying to a question, she claimed that the toxic masculinity pervaded Harris’s campaign, pointing out a moment where the vice president joked with American talk show host Oprah Winfrey about gunning down intruders. “You don’t need to be a man to practice toxic masculinity,” Bhutto asserted and noted the irony of how non-white figures in power could still practice white supremacy.
The granddaughter of former prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto drew quite a bleak comparison between Trump’s and Biden’s administrations, suggesting there’s little difference in their foreign policies toward Gaza, with Democrats only masking similar actions under a more polished facade. “Trump says it; they do it,” she said, asserting that Biden’s administration empowered Israel to take deadly actions in Gaza, resulting in unheard-of casualties, including journalists and United Nations workers.
Speaking on the prevalent disregard for Palestinian lives, Bhutto said how Ukrainians resisting Russian aggression are valorised, while Palestinians are painted as terrorists.
The daughter of Mir Murtuza Bhutto cited Nancy Pelosi’s symbolic support for Ukraine and contrasted it with the dehumanization of Palestinians in Western narratives, including remarks from prominent figures like Bill Clinton and Kamala Harris.
She also played up the terrible crackdown on US university students raising their voices against the slaughter in Gaza, calling it an unprecedented response even compared to protests against apartheid or the Vietnam War.
Bhutto also raised questions over Washington’s assent to Muslim deaths in a climate of normalised anti-Muslim violence over decades, saying, “Our deaths are acceptable to them, and genocide is not a red line.”
Summing it up, Bhutto linked the Gaza issue to the persistent struggles of the US working class, mentioning that the billions in aid sent to Ukraine and Israel while domestic issues like debt and healthcare go completely unaddressed. She blamed the disillusionment with the Democratic Party for a massive drop in voter turnout as Harris’s party received 14 million fewer votes in this election compared to 2020.
Bhutto is an award-winning author, who is known for her works The Runaways and New Kings of the World. She is also co-editing a book with Sonia Fero, titled Gaza: The Story of a Genocide.
