Trump takes advantage of Harris weakness as he reaches out to Arab Americans in final US election stretch

Latest updates: Follow our full coverage on the US election

With two weeks left until the November 5 election, Republican former president Donald Trump has been expanding his outreach to Arab Americans, seizing on discontent in the community over Washington's Middle East policy.

Historically, Arab Americans have leaned towards the Democratic Party, but anger with President Joe Biden's administration over its support of Israel amid the war in Gaza and the invasion of Lebanon has created an opportunity for Mr Trump.

The Trump campaign has focused heavily on the swing state of Michigan, a critical battleground state home to a large concentration of Arab and Muslim Americans.

In 2020, the majority of Arab Americans voted for Mr Biden in an effort to deny Mr Trump – who passed a so-called Muslim travel ban – a second term in office.

But a poll conducted by The Arab News/YouGov, released on Monday, found that 45 per cent of Arab Americans are likely to vote for Mr Trump, while 43 per cent are likely to vote for his Democratic rival, Vice President Kamala Harris. Another 4 per cent said they would vote for third-party candidate Jill Stein.

Ms Harris, who moved to the top of the ticket in July after Mr Biden ended his bid for re-election, has doubled down on the message that Israel has a right to defend itself.

Since the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel that killed 1,200 people, more than 42,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli air attacks on Gaza. More than 2,000 people in Lebanon have been killed in recent weeks, as Israel pushes forward with its invasion.

In Dearborn, Michigan, the capital of Arab America, the Trump campaign has a team on the ground that has been canvassing, airing advertisements and sending text messages to voters.

“Trump is making a lot of noise in the Arab community,” Hussein Dabajeh a resident of Dearborn who owns a billboard company, tells The National. “They've worked just about every mobile billboard.”

Billboards paid for by a Republican political action committee show Ms Harris and Democratic Senate candidate Elissa Slotkin superimposed on an Israeli flag and the message: “The pro-Israel team we can trust.”

Mr Trump has also sat down for interviews with Arabic-language media, during which he has repeated the claim that October 7 would have never happened if he were in office – but he has otherwise largely avoided specifying his approach towards the region.

“We're going to have peace in the Middle East,” he told MTV Lebanon during a visit to Michigan. “Despite all the challenges Lebanon is facing, things will turn out very well. The Lebanese people are going to be very happy in the end.”

During the interview, Mr Trump stood alongside Massad Boulos, a Lebanese-American businessman whose son Michael is married to the former president's daughter, Tiffany. The elder Mr Boulos has been rallying support for Mr Trump in the Arab-American community.

Speaking to Al Arabiya, Mr Trump said that he has “many friends who are Arab, from different countries, but Arab”.

“And I'm very happy about it, they’re smart,” he said. “They're very warm people. It's a shame what's happening over there.”

His campaign has set up an office in Hamtramck, a Muslim-majority city in Michigan, whose Democratic mayor Amer Ghalib last month endorsed Mr Trump, calling him “a man of principle”.

Mr Trump also said on Truth Social that the Middle East region would “spend the next four decades going up in flames” if Ms Harris is elected.

“Arab Voters are very upset that Comrade Kamala Harris, the Worst Vice President in the History of the United States and a Low IQ individual, is campaigning with ‘dumb as a rock’ War Hawk, Liz Cheney, who, like her father, the man that pushed Bush to ridiculously go to War in the Middle East, also wants to go to War with every Muslim Country known to mankind,” he wrote.

Ms Harris, who is currently campaigning in three battleground states, toured Michigan alongside Republican former congresswoman Liz Cheney, whose father played a pivotal role in US wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Michigan, along with Wisconsin and Pennsylvania – together called the Blue Wall – have historically voted in unison. The trio have either paved the way to victory, or defeat for Democrats. National polls currently show Ms Harris and Mr Trump neck-and-neck in the swing states.