The Muslim vote in Michigan

Whether Democrats like it or not, this election cycle demonstrated that several minority groups deserted the party and shifted sharply in favor of Donald Trump and his declared agenda. The initial numbers suggest that Trump received the support of 45% of Hispanics, more than 20% of black men, and about 30% of Jewish voters in crucial swing states. While the Democratic Party has often claimed that it is the party of diversity and minorities, voters in this election challenged this claim, especially as Republicans gained control of the White House and the Senate and now have a narrow majority in the House of Representatives.

In particular, how American Muslims in the swing state of Michigan voted is worth considering.

According to 2020 census numbers, Michigan is home to more than 310,000 people of Middle Eastern or North African origin. These are not all Muslims, as there are large numbers of Christians and Jews who immigrated from Iraq, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt, Morocco, and the Palestinian territories and have made Michigan their home.

About 200,000 Michiganders are Muslim, and most but not all are Arabs. Muslims are concentrated in the Detroit-Dearborn metro area, with Dearborn having the largest per capita Muslim population in the United States.

In 2020, Joe Biden won Dearborn by a 3-to-1 margin. However, this year, Trump received 42.5% of the vote there while Harris won only 36%. Importantly, Green Party candidate Jill Stein received an impressive 18% of the vote in Dearborn. What do these numbers reveal about American Muslims and their views?

While we should be careful with our analyses of early exit polls because the data can often change, it’s now abundantly clear that American Muslims are dissatisfied with various aspects of the Democratic Party’s agenda.

Before the election, many Muslim leaders sent clear messages to the Biden administration, openly and explicitly voicing their frustration with President Biden’s handling of the war in Gaza. Of course, this war is one recent reason for such dissatisfaction, but it cannot be the only or even the main one because many of these Muslims are willing to support Trump even though a Republican administration would arguably do even more for Israel.

To understand what drove these Muslims to vote for Trump, we need to recognize that they have similar feelings, needs, and attitudes as do many other Americans who clearly and decisively voted against the leftist policies of the Democrats. Although many American Muslims are against Biden’s strategies in the Middle East, these Muslims are equally—or arguably more—opposed to many of his policies and decisions here in the United States.

These Muslims didn’t see Vice President Kamala Harris as the candidate who’d bring about change. Her message didn’t resonate with middle-class Muslim families who need less of a tax burden and lower prices for groceries. They are conservative in their disposition, often have large families, and feel the sting of inflation and the burden of a shrinking dollar. They voted against the Democrats’ spending patterns and choices for the past four years.

Trump, on the other hand, gave these families a message they needed to hear. Early on in his campaign, he reached out to Muslims in Michigan and sought their support. He listened to them while Biden—and later Harris—waited too long and kept playing different tunes to respond to Muslim concerns. Many of these Muslims were willing to vote for Trump, clearly hoping for an end to the war in the Middle East as well as boosting the economy and making life easier for their families.

American Muslims deserted the Democratic Party because of its extreme left agenda, which doesn’t resonate with the average Muslim, who is religiously, culturally, and socially conservative. Like most Americans, Muslims want to protect their children against indoctrination through the LGBTQ agenda. Muslims want to feel safe at home and demand secure borders to protect their families against unknown immigrants. The Democrats in office have often supported and encouraged open borders—and it resulted in them losing Muslim support.

But did Michigan Muslims decisively hand Trump his victory in their state?

No, not really, because they didn’t head to the polls in droves for Trump. The difference between Trump’s and Harris’ Muslim support in Dearborn was less than 3,000 votes—significant but not decisive. Harris simply didn’t appeal to them, and a substantial number of those who voted for Biden in 2020 were unwilling to vote for her. She couldn’t win the state, which she desperately needed to gain the presidency, whereas Trump appealed to many Muslims and was able to gain the endorsements of notable Muslim leaders, which gave him the momentum he needed for the narrow victory.

In this election, American Muslims emerged as an important political group, as Trump and Harris clearly sought their votes in Michigan. Muslims wanted to be heard. They made sure a Harris loss would send a clear message, and that message is that they are not to be ignored any longer.