Matt Boyle, the national political editor at Breitbart News, said the Democratic mayor of Hamtramck, Michigan endorsing former President Donald Trump in this year’s presidential election is a “unifying message” that may lead to Trump’s victory in the state over Vice President Kamala Harris.
On Sunday, Hamtramck Mayor Ameer Ghalib endorsed Trump, calling the former president a “man of principles” and “the right choice for this critical time.”
Hamtramck is one of the biggest Muslim communities in Wayne County as approximately 60 percent of its population is Muslim.
Boyle, who interviewed Trump after Ghalib’s endorsement, said Trump said that the mayor attributed his record of peace in the Middle East during his first term as president as one of the reasons he endorsed him over Harris.
“Under Trump, you had peace and that’s what President Trump told me. When I talked to President Trump about this…he said, ‘Look, this guy was a very impressive guy, and he feels that they want to see peace.’ They knew that they had peace when Trump was president whereas with Kamala Harris leading the nation in the world, we’re on the precipice of World War III,” Boyle explained on Monday’s edition of The Michael Patrick Leahy Show.
“Nobody wants war, but if you vote for the Democrats, you’re going to get war. And that’s why, people like Dick Cheney and the national security establishment, etc. are endorsing Kamala Harris. The voters don’t want war. That includes Arab voters,” Boyle added.
Boyle said that while endorsements largely have little effect on elections, he believes the mayor’s endorsement of Trump will help the former president win the state’s 15 electoral college votes in the general election.
RealClearPolitics’ 2024 RCP Electoral College Map lists Michigan as a toss up state for this year’s presidential election. Trump won Michigan in 2016 by 0.3 percent of the vote; however, lost the state in 2020 to President Joe Biden by 2.8 percent.
“[Ghalib’s] endorsement can really move the needle with voters who previously voted Democrat in the last presidential election in 2020 and in several recent elections and who are now voting for Trump. It may be able to move significant votes into Trump’s column from the Arab American community, which has been very upset with Kamala Harris and Joe Biden because of the fact that they blame them for the ongoing wars in the Middle East,” Boyle said.
In regards to Michigan’s impact on the election, Boyle said that Harris would be “finished” if Trump were to win the state.
“If Trump wins Michigan, Kamala Harris is finished. Let me be clear. She can’t win the election without Michigan. She needs to hold Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin to win the election,” Boyle said.
Watch the full interview:
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
Photo “Mayor Amer Ghalib” by Mayor Amer Ghalib and “Donald Trump” is by Donald Trump.
