Trump allies hope to win Arab-American votes in Michigan

One of Donald Trump’s emissaries to Arab Americans is a Lebanese-born businessman who moved to Texas as a teenager, speaks Arabic, English and French, and recently joined the Trump family when his son married the youngest daughter. of the former president.

Massad Boulos has taken on the challenge of trying to convince a politically influential community angry with President Joe Biden that Trump is the best option. But many Arab Americans also point out that Trump has positioned himself as more pro-Israel than Biden, and has made a series of political comments and ads that critics decry as Islamophobic.

Trump has always positioned his family members and their relatives in key roles in his campaigns and in the White House. Boulos, whose son Michael married Tiffany Trump two years ago, is the latest relative to rise within Trump’s political orbit, using long-established connections in an effort to build support for the presumptive Republican nominee’s 2024 campaign.

Some Trump allies believe they can capitalize on discontent within Biden’s Democratic base over their support for the Israeli offensive in Gaza, where more than 37,000 people have been killed since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack, according to health officials. of the territory governed by Hamas, which does not make a breakdown of civilians and combatants. In February, Biden faced a significant protest vote during the Michigan primary in areas with large numbers of Arab Americans, who make up a major Democratic bloc.

“Obviously, the number one item that is a high priority within the Arab-American community is the current war in the Middle East,” Boulos said in an interview. “And the question is: who can bring peace and who can bring war? And they know the answer to that.”

Several of the people who have met with Boulos also point to Trump’s statements about Arabs and Muslims. When he was president, Trump banned immigration from several Muslim-majority countries, and questioned the loyalty of Muslim lawmakers serving in Congress. Now, as he campaigns for a second term after losing in 2020, Trump has at times criticized Biden for not supporting Israel enough and has threatened to deport pro-Palestinian protesters whom he calls Hamas supporters.

“I told Massad, ‘It’s not about you being Lebanese and I being Lebanese,’” said Osama Siblani, editor of the weekly bilingual Arab American News newspaper in Dearborn. “You can’t just buy votes. You have to give something substantial to the community. And Trump hasn’t done that yet.”

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