November 6, 2024
Muslim Americans vote for Donald Trump
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali
In a replay of 2000 US election, most of the 3.5 million Muslim voters apparently voted for Donald Trump in Tuesday’s election. Trump, in his Tuesday night’s acceptance speech acknowledged the role of Arab and Muslim voters when he said: Voters came from all corners: African American, Hispanic American, Asian American, Arab American and Muslim American.
Last month the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the largest Muslim advocacy group in the US, had said that the 2024 US presidential election between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump could be determined by the vote from America's Muslim population
"We estimate there are about three and a half million registered Muslim voters nationwide. We do believe that those Muslim voters who reside in the swing states of Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin will have a major role in determining the election," said Hussam Ayloush, CEO of the California chapter of CAIR.
In 2000 election, American Muslim Coordination Committee had endorsed Texas Governor George Bush for presidency, however in 2024 election Muslim civil advocacy organizations had not endorsed any presidential candidate.
However, there were indications that American Muslims were frustrated with Biden administration’s all out support of Israel for its genocide of Palestinians in Gaza. [1]
Take the case of Michigan which has more than 200,000 Muslim voters, along with 300,000 with Middle Eastern or North African ancestry. Biden won there in 2020 while Trump defeated Kamala Harris on Tuesday.
Tellingly, in the Michigan town of Dearborn, the largest majority Arab-American city in U.S., Trump defeated Harris while in 2020 election Bidon had won this town.
Trump courted Muslim voters during his election campaign. He visited a halal cafe in Dearborn last month, meeting with Arab Americans and vowing to bring peace of the Middle East.
On billboards lining Michigan highways and during visits, the Trump campaign argued that he stands “for peace” in the Middle East, while casting Harris as pro-Israel.
CAIR Calls on Democrats to Learn Lessons from Harris’ Defeat,
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) Wednesday called on Democratic elected officials to learn lessons from Vice President Harris’ loss of support among Muslims to the Gaza genocide and urged President-Elect Trump to prioritize fulfilling his campaign pledge to pursue peace abroad, including an end to Israel’s war on Gaza.
In a statement, CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad said:
“We commend American Muslim voters for making their voices heard in races across the country, and up and down the ballot, in the 2024 election.
“It is important for Democratic and other elected officials to recognize that Vice President Harris’ steep drop in support in key states compared to President Biden’s 2020 victory resulted, in part, from the deep frustration and disillusionment that many young, Muslim, Arab, Black, and other voters feel with the Biden-Harris administration due to its steadfast financial and military support for Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza.
“The vice president’s failure to lay out any plan to end that genocide, such as suspending weapons to Israel, combined with her refusal to let any Palestinian-American speak at the DNC and her embrace of the war criminal enthusiast Liz Cheney, made matters worse.
“During the presidential campaign, President-Elect Trump made efforts to connect with Muslim voters in swing states, pledged to end bloodshed in the Gaza, and condemned the Bush/Cheney-era policies that wreaked havoc in the Muslim world.
“It is important for President-Elect Trump to now recognize that most Americans, including American Muslims who supported him, do not want to see more bigotry here at home or more war overseas. The president-elect should fulfill his campaign pledge to pursue peace abroad, including by ending the war on Gaza. However, this must be a real peace based on justice, freedom and a state for the Palestinian people’” Nihad Awad concluded.
[1] As of November 1, the number of Palestinians killed since the start of the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip last year has risen to 43,259 killed, in addition to 101,827 injuries.
Abdus Sattar Ghazali is the Chief Editor of the Journal of America (www.journalofamerica.net) email: asghazali2011 (@) gmail.com
How did Muslim nations react to Donald Trump’s victory?
Muslim nations have largely congratulated Donald Trump on his victory in the U.S. presidential elections and many also urged him to end Israel’s war on the Palestinians and Lebanon.
Hamas
Hamas released the following statement:
Our position regarding the new U.S. administration will depend on its stances and practical actions towards our Palestinian people, their legitimate rights, and their just cause.
It is unfortunate to note that all successive U.S. administrations, since the occupation of Palestine in 1948, have held negative stances on the Palestinian cause. They have consistently been the primary supporter of the Zionist occupation in all fields, and the previous administration followed a path biased towards occupation and aggression, providing political and military cover for Zionist war criminals to continue some of the most horrific acts of genocide in modern history, solidifying its role as a full partner in the killing of tens of thousands of our people, including children, women, and the elderly.
We call for an end to the blind bias toward the Zionist occupation and for serious and genuine efforts to stop the war of extermination and aggression against our Palestinian people in Gaza and the West Bank, to end the aggression against our brotherly Lebanese people, to halt the provision of military support and political cover for the Zionist entity, and to recognise our people’s legitimate rights.
The elected U.S. President is urged to heed the voices that have risen from within American society itself for more than a year since the Zionist aggression on Gaza, rejecting occupation and genocide and objecting to support and bias toward the Zionist entity.
The new U.S. administration must understand that our Palestinian people will continue to confront the abhorrent Zionist occupation and will not accept any path that detracts from their legitimate rights to freedom, independence, self-determination, and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with Al-Quds as its capital.
Iran
The livelihoods of Iranians will not be affected by the U.S. election, government spokeswoman Fatemeh Mohajerani told reporters after a cabinet meeting in the capital, Tehran.
“The U.S. elections are not really our business. Our policies are steady and don’t change based on individuals. We made the necessary predictions before and there will not be change in people’s livelihoods,” she said.
Turkey
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan congratulated his “friend” Trump after “a great battle”.
“I believe … more efforts will be given for a fairer world in this new era that began with the election by American people,” Erdogan said in a post on X, adding he hoped regional wars would come to an end.
Afghanistan
Afghanistan expressed hope that there would be concrete progress in relations between the two countries and that both countries would be able to open a new chapter of relations in light of mutual interaction.
“It is expected that Mr. Trump will play a constructive role in ending the current war in the region and the world, especially in Gaza and Lebanon.”
Noting the 2020 Doha peace deal signed during the previous Trump administration, which ended the 20-year-long “occupation” of Afghanistan, spokesman Abdul Qahar Balkhi said Kabul hopes the future administration in Washington will take “realistic” steps in the light of a “balanced” foreign policy so that there could be a “solid” development, vis-a-vis relations, between the two countries.
Pakistan
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif urged a “further” strengthening of the US-Pakistan partnership.
“Congratulations to President-elect Donald Trump on his historic victory for a second term! I look forward to working closely with the incoming Administration to further strengthen and broaden the Pakistan-U.S. partnership,” Sharif wrote on X.
Bangladesh
Bangladesh transitional government chief Muhammad Yunus also congratulated Trump on his victory.
“The peace-loving people of Bangladesh look forward to partner and collaborate in your efforts in addressing the global challenges in the pursuit of peace, harmony, stability, and prosperity for all,” said Yunus.
Malaysia
Calling Trump’s win a “remarkable political comeback,” Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said: “This new chapter brings renewed opportunities, and we’re ready to move forward with optimism, collaboration and shared purpose.”
Anwar said the U.S. remains Malaysia’s largest source of foreign investment and a “vital player” in the Asia-Pacific region and Malaysia hopes that America “will reinvigorate its engagement with Southeast Asian region.
“We also urge the U.S. to use its considerable influence to help end the devastating violence and loss of life in Palestine and Ukraine. We look forward to working closely with the incoming president to foster mutual benefits for the people of both our nations,” said the Malaysian prime minister.
Qatar
“Congratulations to President-Elect Donald Trump on winning the US presidential election,” Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani said on his X account.
Emir Tamim said he looks forward “to working together again to strengthen our strategic relationship and partnership, and to advancing our shared efforts in promoting security and stability both in the region and globally.”
Egypt
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi also congratulated Trump on his electoral victory, stressing that he looks forward to achieving peace and stability in the region, and to work together in achieving the interests of the Egyptian and American peoples.
Jordan
Jordanian King Abdullah II also extended his congratulations to President-elect Trump, according to a post on his X account.
The monarch said he looks forward to working with Trump “again to bolster Jordan’s longstanding partnership with the United States, in service of regional and global peace and stability for all.”
UAE
President of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan sent a congratulatory message to Trump on his victory in the U.S. presidential elections.
Bin Zayed said his country looks forward “to continuing to work with our partners in the U.S. towards a future of opportunity, prosperity, and stability for all.”
Palestinian Authority
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas also joined Arab leaders in congratulating Trump on his electoral win.
“We are confident that the United States will support, under your leadership, the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinian people,” Abbas said in a congratulatory cable cited by the official news agency Wafa.
Iraq
Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani also hailed Trump’s electoral victory, underlining his country’s commitment to enhancing bilateral relations with the U.S. in various fields.
https://5pillarsuk.com/2024/11/06/how-did-muslim-nations-react-to-donald-trumps-victory/
It was anger that won Trump this election
Americans have had enough of being ignored, let down, patronised and left behind by the ‘elite’, and Trump managed to channel this anger to his benefit.
By Belén Fernández:
At a campaign rally in the state of Wisconsin just days before yesterday’s United States presidential elections, former US president and current president-elect Donald Trump registered his displeasure with a faulty microphone: “I get so angry. I’m up here seething. I’m seething. I’m working my ass off with this stupid mic.”
The situation was so enraging, in fact, that it drew the additional soundbite from Trump: “Do you want to see me knock the hell out of people backstage?”
Now, there is no doubt Trump is a very angry person; just look at, well, everything he has ever said about his ubiquitous enemies, be they Democrats, immigrants, members of “the radical left” – or microphones. And, as his self-described “magnificent victory” against his Democratic opponent Kamala Harris in this election demonstrates, a whole lot of Americans are angry, too.
Despite obviously belonging to America’s financial super-elite, the billionaire Trump has wooed a wide sector of the domestic working class into viewing him as a saviour from their economic plight in a plutocratic system of which he himself is an integral part. The indignant appeal to “Make America Great Again” deliberately ignores the fact that there was never anything great about a nation predicated on mass socioeconomic inequality, where Republicans and Democrats alike perpetuate plutocracy under the guise of democracy.
Trump’s first bout as president saw him enact tax cuts for – who else? – other rich people. And yet many voters perceive him as the only candidate poised to restore dignity to folks whose financial suffering is a direct consequence of the same capitalist arrangement that enables Trump to thrive.
To be sure, anger is a convenient antidote to feelings of powerlessness, and Trump is quite capable when it comes to channelling public discontent to his benefit. Xenophobia is an ever-handy weapon in this respect, and so-called “border security” was a key issue driving this year’s vote – with Trump promising mass deportations and hawking his signature propaganda on the alleged Democratic sponsorship of an invasion of the US by disease-ridden, pet-eating criminal migrant hordes.
Naturally, there are plenty of reasons to be angry – even “seething,” to borrow Trump’s term – at the state of US affairs under the outgoing Joe Biden administration, in which Harris serves as vice president. Complicity in Israelﾒs genocide in Palestine comes to mind – and specifically, the fact that the US sees nothing wrong with sending heaps of weapons and billions of dollars in assistance to the Israeli military to slaughter Palestinians en masse while millions of Americans cannot afford housing, shelter, healthcare or food.
But, hey, that’s capitalism for you.
Meanwhile, the embrace of Trump as a figure outside the traditional system of elite politics – someone who can “knock the hell out of people backstage,” if you will – is only facilitated by patronising comments made by certain Democratic leaders. During a speech last month on behalf of Harris, for example, ex-US President Barack Obama lectured Black men that support for Trump implied a sexist rejection of Harris: “You’re thinking about sitting out or supporting somebody who has a history of denigrating you, because you think that’s a sign of strength, because that’s what being a man is? Putting women down? That’s not acceptable.”
But there are reasons other than misogyny not to vote for California’s former “top cop.” And being scolded like children has also been known to engender anger.
In a 2022 article for the Washington, DC-based Center for Economic and Policy Research, economist Dean Baker took a stab at explaining “the Trumpers’ anger” – and how it had come to pass that a “large majority of non-college-educated whites (especially white men) are willing to follow Donald Trump off any cliff”.
Noting that less-educated members of the US workforce had fared poorly over the past four decades even in the face of relatively healthy economic growth, Baker observed that this was because those in charge of steering economic policy “consciously structured it in ways to benefit people like themselves and to screw workers with less education”.
That’s all par for the course in plutocracy, of course. But Baker went on to speculate that one reason the punitive arrangement was blamed on Democrats was that “the people who benefit from these policies and then directly spread the nonsense that the upward redistribution was just the natural workings of the market are overwhelmingly associated with the Democratic Party”. This was, however, not to discount the role in pernicious policy choices of the Republican Party, who “have not been any better, and are quite often worse”.
And while “the Trumpers’ anger” may have driven this year’s election, there are quite a lot of things to be angry about.
https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2024/11/6/it-was-anger-that-won-trump-this-election
