'We screwed up': Some Dearborn voters have buyers remorse as Trump floats Gaza takeover
President Donald Trump's remarks this week turned heads when he suggested the United States could take over Gaza, force out Palestinians and turn it from a "demolition site" into the "Riviera of the Middle East."And some voters in the Arab American enclave of Dearborn, Michigan, are now regretting their decision to snub former Vice President Kamala Harris.In the 2024 U.S. presidential election, Trump won Dearborn with 42 percent of the vote, with Harris collecting 36 percent and Green Party candidate Jill Stein garnering a whopping 18 percent. The stunning result was largely attributed to the Arab-American community's dissatisfaction with the Biden administration's handling of the devastation in Gaza and its steadfast support for Israel.ALSO READ: 'Driven to self-loathing': Inside the extremist website believed to 'groom' teen attackersBut this week, Trump, standing next to Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said the "U.S. will take over the Gaza Strip.""And we will do a job with it, too. We'll own it and be responsible for dismantling all of the dangerous unexploded bombs and other weapons on the site. Level the site and get rid of the destroyed buildings. Level it out. Create an economic development that will supply unlimited numbers of jobs and housing for the people of the area. Do a real job," said Trump."It'll be something the entire Middle East can be proud of," he added, noting he sees a "long-term ownership" of the land, that will bring stability to the region.Trump's remarks predictably didn't sit well with Dearborn voters, Politico reported Thursday.Osama Siblani, editor of Dearborn’s Arab American News, told the outlet people in Dearborn have reacted with "extreme anger and disappointment with this president who lied to this community to steal some of their votes." Siblani said Trump is “acting like a leader of a gangster group and not the most powerful nation in the world. Disgrace."Meanwhile, a leader in the community who was not named in the report said some in the community are feeling remorse for casting their ballots for Trump or abstaining from the election. They now “think we screwed up but we’re not going to admit it," the person said.Even so, others in Dearborn doubled down on their vote.“For those of us who voted against the Democratic Party, in whatever form that was … we understood that we would get this guy, and we understood that we would have to deal with this kind of stuff,” progressive activist Amer Zahr told Politico. “But ultimately we don’t believe that we are to blame for this. The Democrats could have solved this problem back in the summer. Our price for supporting Harris was really low — all we asked for was, ‘Say that you would consider an arms embargo against Israel.’ And she wasn’t willing to do that.”
President Donald Trump's remarks this week turned heads when he suggested the United States could take over Gaza, force out Palestinians and turn it from a "demolition site" into the "Riviera of the Middle East."
And some voters in the Arab American enclave of Dearborn, Michigan, are now regretting their decision to snub former Vice President Kamala Harris.
In the 2024 U.S. presidential election, Trump won Dearborn with 42 percent of the vote, with Harris collecting 36 percent and Green Party candidate Jill Stein garnering a whopping 18 percent.
The stunning result was largely attributed to the Arab-American community's dissatisfaction with the Biden administration's handling of the devastation in Gaza and its steadfast support for Israel.
ALSO READ: 'Driven to self-loathing': Inside the extremist website believed to 'groom' teen attackers
But this week, Trump, standing next to Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said the "U.S. will take over the Gaza Strip."
"And we will do a job with it, too. We'll own it and be responsible for dismantling all of the dangerous unexploded bombs and other weapons on the site. Level the site and get rid of the destroyed buildings. Level it out. Create an economic development that will supply unlimited numbers of jobs and housing for the people of the area. Do a real job," said Trump.
"It'll be something the entire Middle East can be proud of," he added, noting he sees a "long-term ownership" of the land, that will bring stability to the region.
Trump's remarks predictably didn't sit well with Dearborn voters, Politico reported Thursday.
Osama Siblani, editor of Dearborn’s Arab American News, told the outlet people in Dearborn have reacted with "extreme anger and disappointment with this president who lied to this community to steal some of their votes."
Siblani said Trump is “acting like a leader of a gangster group and not the most powerful nation in the world. Disgrace."
Meanwhile, a leader in the community who was not named in the report said some in the community are feeling remorse for casting their ballots for Trump or abstaining from the election. They now “think we screwed up but we’re not going to admit it," the person said.
Even so, others in Dearborn doubled down on their vote.
“For those of us who voted against the Democratic Party, in whatever form that was … we understood that we would get this guy, and we understood that we would have to deal with this kind of stuff,” progressive activist Amer Zahr told Politico. “But ultimately we don’t believe that we are to blame for this. The Democrats could have solved this problem back in the summer. Our price for supporting Harris was really low — all we asked for was, ‘Say that you would consider an arms embargo against Israel.’ And she wasn’t willing to do that.”
