Donald Trump Secures Endorsement Of Michigan Mayor, Muslim Leader Amer Ghalib

Hamtramck, Michigan, Mayor Amer Ghalib announced Sunday that he is endorsing Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump in the 2024 election.

Ghalib, a Democrat at the helm of a city with an all-Muslim city council, announced in a Facebook post that he will “not regret” his decision to support Trump because the former president “is the right choice for this crucial time.”

“President Trump and I may not agree on everything, but I know he is a man of principles,” Ghalib wrote.

“Though it’s looking good, he may or may not win the election and be the 47th president of the United States, but I believe he is the right choice for this crucial time,” Ghalib continued. “I’ll not regret my decision no matter what the outcome would be, and I’m ready to face the consequences.”

Trump celebrated the Hamtramck mayor’s endorsement by reposting his statement on Truth Social.

Trump met with Ghalib privately for 20 minutes Tuesday night at the Dort Financial Center before the former president addressed the crowd at his campaign event, according to The Detroit News.

Ghalib told the outlet via text message Wednesday that Trump demonstrated a depth of knowledge about him when they met. Ghalib disclosed that the meeting was set up by “very close” members of the Trump campaign.

Ghalib said Trump explicitly asked for his endorsement before the two discussed how they could reach that outcome, according to the outlet. Ghalib, who immigrated to the U.S. from Yemen, was elected in 2021 as mayor of Hamtramck, which consists of more than 40% foreign-born residents, U.S. Census data shows.

The Hamtramck mayor added that he and Trump discussed several topics, including “the debates, the polls updates, the statistics of votes in Michigan and Wayne County, the Arab American concerns and the Yemeni Americans in particular.”

Michigan is one of three battleground states that compose the blue wall or the states considered most crucial for presidential candidates to win the White House. Trump trails Vice President Kamala Harris by 1.7% in Michigan, according to the RealClearPolitics average, as of Sunday. (RELATED: Kamala Harris Will Reportedly Skip Catholic Charity Dinner, Breaking Tradition)

Democratic Michigan Rep. Rashida Tlaib urged voters in her home state to “vote uncommitted,” and thus not for Biden, ahead of the 2024 Democratic primaries as a result of the Biden-Harris administration’s stance on Israel. The movement, which garnered more than 100,000 protest votes, secured two “uncommitted” delegates, as Biden won the state with more than 618,000 votes, The Associated Press reported.

In 2020, President Joe Biden took 2.8% more of the vote than Trump in Michigan. Wayne County, where Hamtramck is located, voted 68.4% in favor of Biden in 2020.

Other blue wall states include Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. The RealClearPolitics polling average shows Harris ahead of Trump in Pennsylvania by 0.7% and Wisconsin by 1.0% as of Sunday.