There Were Many Reasons for Harris’ Loss. Here’s Why Gaza Is Definitely One Of Them

Let’s start by looking at Dearborn and Michigan.

Joe Biden won Michigan by less than 160,000 votes in 2020. In Dearborn, which has a population of just over 100,000, more than half of the city’s residents identify as being of Middle Eastern or North African (MENA) descent. The Arab and Muslim population here, like much of the country, has traditionally voted largely blue. They helped elect Biden four years ago.

This time, many voters felt alienated from and angry with the Democratic party. In pre-election interviews, the majority of Arab and Muslim voters I spoke to in Michigan said they would refuse to vote for Harris. When asked how they would feel if this helped Trump return to the White House, many would say it couldn’t be worse. Dr., a 43-year-old Lebanese-American intensive care physician living in southeastern Michigan. As Ali Dabaja told me, “I don’t think this could be worse than a genocide.”

Inside hamtramckSaid to have become the first Muslim-majority city in the US just over a decade ago, Democrats are on track to win 85.4% of the vote in 2020 to Harris taking 46.2% of the vote in 2024. progressed.

In Wayne County, home to Dearborn, Hamtramck and neighboring Detroit, Biden had a lead over Trump of more than 330,000 votes in 2020, more than double the margin by which he won the state. It is the most populous county in Michigan and is also highest Among all U.S. states, the percentage of residents who identify as of Middle Eastern or North African descent (7.8%) saw a 5.7% decline in Democratic vote share between 2020 and 2024. That’s 60,589 fewer votes in the state than Trump currently holds. He won by less than 80,000 votes.

Micho Assi, a 40-year-old Lebanese American who lives in Dearborn, has worked as a Democratic community organizer for the past eight years. But this time, when she went knocking on the door on behalf of Democrats, Assi said she didn’t have the courage or audacity to ask them to vote for Harris. “I tell them, ‘Use your conscience about who you want to vote for.'” Instead, he focused on convincing them to vote Democratic in down-ballot races in hopes of keeping the state legislature blue.

Like Assi, one in four people of MENA descent in Michigan are of Lebanese descent. Many like him have friends, relatives and family members in Lebanon as the country continues to be attacked by Israel.