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Donald Trump bearded the lion’s den on Friday, traveling to heavily Democratic Dearborn Michigan to court dissatisfied and disillusioned Arab Americans in the largest Arab-majority city in the country.

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Dearborn is fertile ground for Trump. The war in Gaza has angered many of Biden’s Muslim supporters. More than 100,000 people cast “uncommitted” ballots during the primary last spring, many of them cast in Muslim-heavy communities, including Dearborn, Dearborn Heights, and Hamtramck.

“I need every Muslim American in Michigan to get the hell out and vote, please,” Trump told the crowd at Macomb Community College in Warren on Friday.

Earlier in October, Trump campaigned in Hamtramck where the city’s Muslim mayor, Amer Ghalib, endorsed him. Trump has also been endorsed by Dearborn Heights Mayor Bill Bazzi, who is also Muslim. 

However, Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud “refused a sit down with” Trump, “although the requests keep pouring in.”

“Trump will never be my president,” Hammoud added. “To the Dems — your unwillingness to stop funding & enabling a genocide created the space for Trump to infiltrate our communities. Remember that.”

I guess Trump can’t win ’em all.

Any way you look at it, Trump’s Dearborn stop was a plus. At the very least, he drove the wedge between national Democrats and Arab Americans deeper, while gaining some support in the Arab American community.

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“It is time to prioritize our nation’s best interests and foster lasting peace for all,” Albert Abbas, an Arab American, said Friday while standing next to Trump. “This current administration has failed miserably in all aspects of humanity.”

He added, “We look to a Trump presidency with hope and envisioning a time where peace flourishes, particularly in Lebanon and Palestine.”

Associated Press:

Top community leaders in Dearborn, including Hammoud, declined an invitation to meet with Trump while he was in town. Many community leaders say that while Harris has never earned their endorsement, they are still overwhelmingly opposed to Trump.

Siblani, a prominent figure in the community who has engaged with Democratic leaders about ongoing tensions, noted that many “do not trust” Trump because of his past policies and remarks. However, he emphasized the significance of Trump’s visit to Dearborn.

“Kamala should have done this months ago,” Siblani said.

Abbas, owner of The Great Commoner Restaurant in Dearborn where Trump spoke, was looking for a statement from Trump that showed he “has the intentions of ending the war and helping us rebuild Lebanon and helping the displaced and the injured.”

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His promise to “preserve the equal partnership among all Lebanese communities” is a slap in the face to Hezbollah, which rejects the principle of shared government among Shiites, Sunnis, and Christians. 

Harris has no plans to visit Dearborn before the campaign ends on Tuesday.