Shocker: ‘America First’ Arabs Are All-In For Abdul El-Sayed

Some Arab Americans who helped deliver Michigan to President Donald Trump in 2024 now say the Republican Party has abandoned its “America First” promises — and that Abdul El-Sayed is the candidate who actually represents them.

The former Trump supporters say El-Sayed better represents the agenda they thought they were voting for — keeping American money at home and the country out of foreign wars. Their support could complicate Republican Mike Rogers’ efforts to preserve Trump’s gains among Arab American voters.

A Washington Post-Schar School poll of Arab American registered voters nationwide, conducted in August and September and released this month, found that 58% favor Democrats for Congress, compared with 34% who prefer Republicans. The community split its votes between Trump and former Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election.

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That doesn’t mean Arab American Trump voters have uniformly turned against him. Two-thirds still approve of his overall performance, while 54% disapprove of his handling of Israel’s war in Gaza, according to the Post. 

In Dearborn, a majority-Arab American city that Trump won by six points in 2024, some former supporters say the president failed to deliver on promises to end foreign wars and prioritize Americans at home. They now see El-Sayed, a former public health official and the son of Egyptian immigrants, as a better fit for their understanding of “America First.”

“I don’t see peace anywhere. He made it worse. We have started a war. For why?” Walid Fidama, a 62-year-old Yemeni American who voted for Trump, told the Washington Post, pointing to continued conflict abroad and rising household expenses.

Fidama said he was drawn to El-Sayed’s economic message, which includes Medicare for All and a pledge to get money out of politics. Other former Trump voters interviewed by the Post similarly argued that continued U.S. support for Israel contradicted the president’s promises to keep American resources out of overseas conflicts.

Mustapha El-Jaroudi, a 27-year-old two-time Trump voter, said he understood “America First” to mean keeping taxpayer money in the United States rather than sending it abroad. He argued that Rogers, a staunch supporter of Israel, would put Israeli interests ahead of American ones.

“I might not agree with everything El-Sayed says, but at least he’s not being bribed,” El-Jaroudi told the Post, referring to El-Sayed’s criticism of politicians who accept support from the pro-Israel lobbying group AIPAC.

Former Michigan Republican Party vice chair Hassan Nehme, who helped lead outreach to Arab American voters during the 2024 cycle, said the party has lost ground since Trump took office.

“Once the administration got into the White House, everything we were told kind of flip-flopped,” Nehme told Politico. “We lost all traction. Republicans are kind of dead in the water in the area right now.”

Some Arab American leaders have also criticized Trump for calling El-Sayed a “jihadist.” Rogers, meanwhile, has challenged El-Sayed over his appearances with left-wing streamer Hasan Piker and his response to an attack on a Michigan synagogue. After the March attack on Temple Israel in West Bloomfield Township, El-Sayed condemned the violence but also said “hurt people hurt people” and “violence is a cycle.” He later apologized for remarks about the attack and has condemned antisemitism. 

Rogers’ campaign has rejected the idea that it is alienating Arab American voters. Campaign spokeswoman Alyssa Brouillet said Rogers welcomes Michiganders regardless of faith or background, while accusing El-Sayed of fueling antisemitism and sympathizing with the synagogue attacker. El-Sayed’s campaign has countered that Rogers is using personal attacks to distract from his record and ties to corporate donors.

Michigan has nearly 400,000 residents of Arab ancestry, making the community an important constituency in the Senate race. A Detroit News/WDIV-TV survey conducted October 19–22 found El-Sayed leading Rogers, 51.4% to 45.1%, among likely voters.

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