The mayor of a Muslim-majority city in Michigan has endorsed Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential election.
Amer Ghalib, mayor of the Detroit-area suburb Hamtramck, announced the endorsement Sunday, in an impassioned post to Facebook.
The statement came days after the Yemini-born Democrat met with Trump in Flint, after which he personally invited the politician to his town – which has become a destination for immigrants from countries like Yemen, Bangladesh, and Pakistan.
This paved way for the ringing endorsement, which billed the ex-commander-in-chief as ‘the right choice for this critical time,’ despite the two not ‘agree[ing] on everything,’
The 45-year-old former health care worker went on to paint Trump as ‘a man of principles’ – an assertion the Republican went on to repost on Truth Social.
Amer Ghalib, mayor of the Detroit-area suburb Hamtramck, has endorsed Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential election.
Ghalib announced the endorsement Sunday, in an impassioned post to Facebook. It came two days after he met the former commander-in-chief for 20 minutes and Flint, where he was asked for his endorsement
‘Though it’s looking good, he may or may not win the election and be the 47th president of the United States,’ Ghalib began by saying, writing the post in Arabic.
‘I’ll not regret my decision no matter what the outcome would be, and I’m ready to face the consequences.
‘For this, and for many other reasons, I announce my support and endorsement for the former, and hopefully, the next president of the United States, Donald Trump.
‘Now, let the Caravan begin its journey,’ he concluded. ‘This is just the starting point.’
Days earlier, following a private 20-minutme meeting with the former president in Flint, Ghalib told The Detroit News in a text message: ‘[Trump] knew a lot about me before the meeting.
‘We talked about various topics including the debates, the polls updates, the statistics of votes in Michigan and Wayne County, the Arab American concerns and the Yemeni Americans in particular,’ the political newcomer continued.
‘We also talked about the situation in Yemen.’
The 45-year-old former health care worker went on to paint Trump as ‘a man of principles’ – an assertion the Republican went on to repost on Truth Social
Hamtramck, a haven for refugees, is the only Muslim-majority city in the US. It houses well over 100,000 Michigander Arabs who voted ‘Uncommitted’ in the Democrat primary
Trump, meanwhile, on Sunday told Breitbart News how he ‘was very impressed with [Ghalib]’, during a nearly hourlong phone-call that followed Ghalib’s sudden endorsement.
‘He was a very big fan of the Trump administration because he saw no wars – outside of defeating ISIS, but I inherited that – but there were no wars,’ Trump told the news site.
‘There was no October 7. There was no Russian attack on Ukraine,’ he continued. ‘He sees that and he told me — he saw a world that was at peace.
‘Now, we have a world that’s going to end up in World War 3 and I can stop that,’ the Republican went on, a little over 40 days ahead of his looming faceoff with Vice President Kamala Harris. ‘I’m the only one that’s going to stop that.’
In his texts with Detroit News, Ghalib further revealed how Trump had been the one to ask for his endorsement, as the Great Lakes State’s 15 electoral votes look to be largely up for grabs.
Democrats and Republicans traded wins there in 2020 and 2016.
‘He asked me if I can endorse him and ask people to vote for him?’ Ghalib claimed, adding that he may discuss more details about the pair’s newfound correspondence in a video or future social media posts.
His endorsement for Trump coms as the Great Lakes State’s 15 electoral votes look to be largely up for grabs, with Democrats and Republicans trading wins there in 2020 and 2016
‘I told him: ‘I’m here to talk about that and how we can make it happen.’
‘I then handed him an official letter with some details about our concerns and to invite him to come to Hamtramck if possible.’
Ghalib then appeared on Breitbart News Saturday, to again speak highly of the presidential candidate before officially endorsing him.
‘I talked to President Trump about, you know, some statistics here in Wayne County and how it used to be a stronghold for the Democrats, and we always used to vote Democrat,’ Ghalib said of the ‘very productive meeting’ in Flint.
‘This is not the case anymore here.’
He the told Breitbart how he and Trump both do not want new wars, as the conflict in Gaza continues to rage without an end in sight.
Last year, Ghalib was among a group of Hamtramck residents who met with controversial conservative activist Michael Flynn, a former Army general and Trump’s first national security advisor who pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his contacts with the Russian ambassador.
He was later pardoned by then-President Trump prior to visiting Hamtramck – a town of roughly 27,000 – last year.
Ghalib was elected mayor of the only U.S. city governed entirely by Muslims the year before, beating out incumbent Mayor Karen Majewski in the process
The victory marked the first time in 100 years that a non-Polish person held the position, in a city where more than 40 percent of the city’s population foreign-born
Ghalib was elected mayor of the only U.S. city governed entirely by Muslims the year before, beating out incumbent Mayor Karen Majewski in the process.
The victory marked the first time in 100 years that a non-Polish person held the position, in a city where more than 40 percent of the city’s population foreign-born.
If Trump wins Michigan, Harris’s path to the presidency suddenly becomes a great deal more dubious, with well over 100,000 Michigander Arabs voted ‘Uncommitted’ in the Democrat primary.
That represents nearly the full margin between Biden and Trump in the 2020 Michigan election, meaning the voting bloc could swing the presidency either way.
Hamtramck, a haven for refugees, is the only Muslim-majority city in the US.