Recently Hamtramck's Mayor Amer Ghalib, who is Muslim and a Yemini immigrant, announced he was endorsing Donald Trump for president.
Now, comes a report by the Detroit News that the the Michigan GOP has set up an impromptu campaign office on Joseph Campau Street in Hamtramck in hopes of winning over the city's Muslim voters. Hamtramck is believed to be the first city in America to elect an all-Muslim city council.
Many Muslim and Arab Americans in Metro Detroit have been highly critical of the Biden administration's support of Israel. Still, many have refrained from embracing Trump, reasoning that he could be worse than the Democrats when it comes to addressing their concerns in the volatile Midddle East.
Though Ghalib has been a Democrat he has found some common ground with the conservative values of the Republican Party, including on issues like LGBQT+.
In September 2023, The Review, a Hamtramck news publication, reported that Ghalib had met twice with Michael Flynn, the former National Security Advisor for President Trump, who once said “Islam is a cancer.”
Some Muslim and Arab Americans have leaned Republican, saying they relate to the more conservative social issues they believe the party represents.
Conversely, Trump has not always been friendly to Arab and Muslim concerns, including on issues of travel bans and deportations.