Donald Trump has secured a decisive victory in the US presidential election, defeating Democratic candidate Kamala Harris.
Republicans regained control of the Senate and posted gains in their majority in the House of Representatives.
The Muslim vote, which had been closely watched due to widespread disenchantment over the Biden administration’s inaction over the Genocide in Gaza, showed mixed patterns.
In Michigan’s Dearborn, the largest Arab-American majority city in the US, Trump received overwhelming support. He won with 42.5% of the vote to Harris’s 36%, with Green Party’s Jill Stein capturing 18.37% – a dramatic shift from 2020, when Biden had dominated with 68.8%.
“Kamala lost all of the heavily Arab and Muslim districts in Michigan: South End of Dearborn, East and West Dearborn, Dearborn Heights,” posted writer Khaled Beydoun on X.
“The Muslim vote may cost her Michigan — a determinative swing state. It all came down to Gaza.”
Michigan did flip to Trump in the end.
Nationwide exit polls suggested a different picture. AP data showed Harris securing 61% of the Muslim vote, nearly matching Biden’s previous 63%, while Trump’s support among Muslims decreased to 30%, a 5% decrease from his 2020 performance.
In his victory speech, Trump made a reference to Muslims. “We’ve built the biggest, the broadest, the most unified coalition,” he said.
“They came from all corners, union, non union, African American, Hispanic American, Asian American, Arab American, Muslim American. We had everybody. And it was beautiful. It was a historic realignment, uniting citizens of all backgrounds around a common core of common sense.”
In the final days before the election, Trump courted the Muslim voter. But he has a long history of anti-Muslim sentiment and policies and is traditionally a staunch supporter of Israel.
Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar buck trend
While the Democrats faced significant losses nationwide, the party’s Muslim congresswomen maintained their stronghold.
Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar – the first Muslim women to serve in Congress and outspoken advocates for Palestinian rights – secured commanding re-election victories in the US House of Representatives.
Tlaib, the only Palestinian-American in Congress, defeated her Republican opponent in Michigan’s 12th congressional district election with 77% of the vote. The Republican Party’s James Hooper received just 19%.
Tlaib’s criticism of US military aid to Israel and her support for pro-Palestinian campus protests have made her a target for pro-Israeli Republicans and Democrats.
In the final days before the election, Tlaib also withheld her endorsement of Harris for US president.
Meanwhile, Omar retained her Minnesota seat with 76.4%, defeating Republican challenger Dalia al-Aqidi, an Iraqi-born immigrant who is pro-Israel and describes herself as a “secular Muslim.”
