He campaigned for Trump: today he denounces his Islamophobic attacks

Bishara Bahbah, founder of the group “Arab Americans for Trump” in 2024, denounces Islamophobic attacks targeting Abdul El-Sayed, Democratic candidate for Senate in Michigan. Disappointed by Trump’s promises on Gaza, he warns that these speeches could alienate Arab and Muslim voters from the Republican Party.

He campaigned for Donald Trump. Today, Bishara Bahbah criticizes her camp’s attacks against a Muslim candidate. In an interview with New Yorkerhe denounces the comments targeting Abdul El-Sayed, targeted by Republican Mike Rogers, his allies and the American president.

Associated with Osama bin Laden, accused of links with the Muslim Brotherhood, described as a “terrorist”: El-Sayed undergoes a campaign which makes his religion a reason for suspicion. Trump himself called him “Muhammed” and claimed he would bring jihadists to the United States. For Bishara Bahbah, these attacks also affect millions of Arab and Muslim Americans. His organization, renamed “Arab Americans for Peace,” has turned the page on support for Trump. He admits to having placed too much confidence in himself, particularly in the hope of seeing an end to the genocide in Gaza.

This rupture reveals a contradiction in the Republican strategy: soliciting the votes of Muslim voters while allowing speeches that stigmatize them to flourish. Bishara Bahbah’s disappointment does not predict their vote, but it illustrates the limits of support based on promises of peace which, in her eyes, remained without follow-up.