US election: Michigan voters feel ‘overlooked’ by Harris campaign
In the Arab-majority Michigan city of Dearborn, the chairman of Arab-Americans for Trump is having a celebratory meal.
From Detroit to Dearborn, the Harris campaign of hope has settled into a historic hangover.
Trump supporters are ecstatic, Harris hopefuls are deflated and the clear-eyed independents are basking in the accuracy of their BS barometers.
“I think a lot of it has to do with when you have a political process of identity politics. I think a lot of people are turned off by being told who they should vote for based on skin colour,” says Eric Brown, an African-American community advocate who voted for independent Cornel West.
“They overlooked class in the same way that Hillary Clinton eight years ago took the black vote, as well as the unionised community, for granted.”
Our table has a three-window view of downtown Detroit in the Greek-owned diner American Coney Island.
Upstairs in a smoky room, Pulitzer-winning writer and outrageously outspoken American host Charlie LeDuff is hosting his morning-after podcast.
We are trying to figure out how so many ethnic minorities voted for Donald Trump, I tell him.
“Black people, white people, brown people – we’ve been here forever. We all see that we can’t put fuel in the car, we can’t put food in our cupboard,” he said.
“You guys in the UK, you still don’t get us!”
Read more:
Who could be in Donald Trump’s top team?
US election 2024 in pictures
His co-host is Karen Dumas, the former chief of communications for the city of Detroit. A successful woman of colour and exactly the demographic that Harris would take for granted.
“I’m all for the first women, the first this, the first that – but I wanted substance,” she said.
“I wanted to hear policy and not promises. I wanted to hear a plan and a conversation that did not feel performative.”
And 15 minutes away in the Arab-majority Michigan city of Dearborn, the chairman of Arab-Americans for Trump is having a celebratory meal.
“No presidential candidate has ever visited Dearborn in the history of the United States. None. So he reached out to our community, you know, and our community returned, returned the favour and voted for him,” says Dr Bishara A Bahbah, a Palestinian-American from Jerusalem.
Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
The woman next to him bangs the table as Michigan is called.
“We got Michigan and Dearborn is for Trump,” she says excitedly.
For them, a Trump win is a pathway to peace in Gaza. A leader to negotiate with.
“I asked him – are Palestinians human beings or not? He said yes, of course,” Dr Bishara says, showing me a photo of him with Mr Trump.
“I said Israel has been bombing their shelters, their schools – this killing has to stop.
“He said yes, the killing has to stop immediately and I will work on it and I will work on lasting peace in the Middle East.”
Be the first to get Breaking News
Install the Sky News app for free
Not all Palestinian-Americans see Trump as a solution to US support for Israel. Many have voted for third parties or abstained.
At a nearby cafe, Palestinian-American academic Dr Hani Bawardi says the impact has been huge and the outcome surprising.
“The Harris camp never bothered to reach out to the Arab-Americans in a meaningful way while the killing was endless and really difficult to overlook,” he says.
“Although there is no grass-roots support for Trump in this region – southeast Michigan – the way things unfolded is that he made pronouncements that went beyond what Harris had to offer.”
