By It was the last thing Kamala Harris needed to happen in the vital state of Michigan. On Tuesday, the vice president’s campaign apologized after removing Ahmed Ghanim, a Muslim activist and former U.S. House candidate, from a rally in Royal Oak, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The incident occurred on Monday evening during an event headlined by Harris and Liz Cheney.
Ghanim, from Ferndale and a recent candidate for Michigan’s 11th District, said he had RSVP’d for the rally, passed security checks, and was seated when a staff member approached him. He was asked to leave without explanation and warned that if he refused, he could be placed in the back of a police car, according to The Detroit News.
A day later, Ghanim said he still had not been provided an explanation for what happened and had heard from no one at the Harris campaign or with the Michigan Democratic Party. He felt targeted because he is Muslim, he said.
“They kicked me out without ― providing zero reasons provided to me. I didn’t have anything. There is no provocation. I didn’t even have any like a Palestinian kaffiyeh, any signs or a banner, nothing. None of that is allowed inside,” Ghanim said.
“I guess that’s how the Democratic Party deals with Muslims. They’re not important to them. … Maybe the Democratic Party doesn’t want people like me and my kind in the party.”
The Harris campaign said, “Our campaign regrets this action and its impact on Dr. Ghanim and the community, and he is welcome at future events,” said Harris campaign Michigan senior adviser Chris Wyant.
“We value our relationship with the Muslim American community and are committed to ensuring all community and political spaces are welcoming and respectful to every American.”
This wasn’t the first time that Harris and her campaign have gotten into a scrap with Muslims. During one of her initial rallies, the vice president got angry at protesters in Michigan who chanted about Palestine.
Meanwhile, former President Donald Trump has been making efforts to engage with Michigan’s Muslim voters, noted Fox News.
Some Arab leaders in southeast Michigan have heard enough from Vice President Kamala Harris and are now encouraging their community to throw their support behind former President Trump.
‘Just look where we’re at right now and look where we were before,’ Dearborn Heights Mayor Bill Bazzi told reporters during an online call Monday.
Bazzi’s comments represent a growing sentiment among some Arab leaders in Michigan, where there has been increasingly negative sentiment around the Biden administration’s handling of the conflicts in the Middle East.
In Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit with the largest per capita Muslim population in the United States, a movement bubbled up earlier this year to “Abandon Biden” during the state’s Democratic primary. While President Biden was still able to secure the nomination, leaders of the campaign against him hailed its success, noting that over 100,000 people failed to support the president and arguing they would continue to use their influence as the general election drew near.”
The Democrats’ disconnect with many Arab and Muslim voters in Dearborn has persisted, even after Biden’s withdrawal from the race and Harris’ rapid rise to the top of the ticket.
A poll conducted by Arab News/YouGov showed Trump leading the Democratic nominee 45 percent to 43 percent among Arab Americans, despite perceptions that the Republican candidate is more supportive of Israel’s current government. About 4 percent of respondents indicated they would likely vote for Green Party candidate Jill Stein, while 6 percent were undecided, and 2 percent declined to share their preference. Trump’s lead falls within the poll’s margin of error.
[Read More: Kamala Getting Desperate And It’s Gross]
