Michigan Muslim voters who backed Trump feel betrayed by GOP

Arab and Muslim Americans in Michigan who supported President Donald Trump in 2024 are expressing growing frustration with the Republican Party, citing a shift from courtship to attacks on their faith and candidates. Community leaders say the party has repaid their electoral support with intensified anti-Muslim rhetoric ahead of the midterm elections.

The tension is particularly visible in the race for the U.S. Senate, where Republican nominee Mike Rogers and President Trump have targeted Democratic candidate Abdul El-Sayed. Trump has called El-Sayed a “jihadist” and a “member of the Muslim Brotherhood,” while Rogers claimed without evidence that El-Sayed believes America deserved the September 11 attacks. El-Sayed, a physician and former health official, could become the first Muslim U.S. senator if elected.

Husham Al-Husainy, an Iraqi American imam in Dearborn who backed Trump in 2024, noted that the party has turned on the communities it courted. Bishara Bahbah, who led the group formerly known as Arab Americans for Trump, described the attacks as “astounding” and criticized Trump’s endorsement of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as a betrayal. Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud added that both parties often treat the community as a temporary electoral prize rather than a permanent partner in governance.

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