Trump’s Secret Weapon for Winning Middle Eastern Voters in Michigan: Tiffany
PHOTO: CHIP SOMODEVILLA/GETTY
The Trump campaign has a secret weapon in its efforts to win over Middle Eastern voters in the key swing state of Michigan — Tiffany Trump. According to a new report from the Associated Press, former President Donald Trump is striving to overcome lingering outrage over the controversial Muslim ban he enacted during his presidency.
Central to Trump’s campaign strategy is his daughter Tiffany Trump, through her connection by marriage to Michael Boulos, the son of Lebanese-born businessman Massad Boulos. “Boulos has taken on the challenge of trying to convince a politically influential community angry at President Joe Biden that Trump is a better option,” reports the Associated Press.
However, the report also notes, “Many Arab Americans also note Trump has positioned himself as more pro-Israel than Biden and has made a series of comments and policy announcements that critics blast as Islamophobic.”
The Associated Press interviewed several individuals Boulos has attempted to sway to Trump’s side, with mixed results. These sources recalled Trump’s controversial 2016 campaign comments, his immigration ban on multiple majority-Muslim nations, and the inflammatory rhetoric directed at Rep. Ilhan Omar, one of the first Muslim women members of Congress, who faced death threats as a result.
“I told Massad, ‘This isn’t about you being Lebanese and me being Lebanese,’” Osama Siblani, a publisher of the Arab American News, told the Associated Press. “You can’t just buy votes. You have to give something substantial to the community. And Trump hasn’t done that yet.”
Hostilities were hardly lessened when Boulos, his son, and Trump foreign policy adviser Richard Grenell held a meeting in Michigan in May with 40 Arab American activists from across the U.S., according to the report. “Grenell didn’t say what they would do,” Arab American political activist Khaled Saffuri told the Associated Press. “But he kept reminding us that when Trump was president, there was no war whatsoever and that he launched the biggest peace effort in the Middle East. But most Arabs and Muslims don’t consider the Abraham Accords a peace agreement.”
Grenell attempted to call Trump to have him address the attendees by phone, but “The former president did not answer,” reports the Associated Press. This outreach effort highlights the challenges the Trump campaign faces in trying to rebuild support among Arab Americans, a group still deeply affected by Trump’s past policies and statements. Despite the strategic involvement of Tiffany Trump and her connections, significant skepticism remains within the community, questioning whether Trump can offer the substantive change they seek.
