Vice President Kamala Harris’ decision to hit the trail with former Republican Rep. Liz Cheney could backfire in Michigan, where Cheney is hugely unpopular with a critical voting bloc in the swing state.
“It was surprising for us as Arab Americans to have Kamala Harris bringing someone whose family name always reminds us of war crimes in the Middle East,” Hamtramck Mayor Amer Ghalib told reporters in an online call Monday. Liz Cheney’s father, Dick Cheney, was vice president under former President George W. Bush and was a strong proponent of the 2003 Iraq War.
The comments come as Harris embarked on a three-state battleground tour with Cheney, a Republican who has long sparred with and opposed reelecting former President Donald Trump. That tour landed in southeast Michigan in Royal Oak, where Cheney joined Harris for a town hall-style event and implored moderate Republicans to join her in supporting Harris.
“I would say, I don’t know if anybody’s more conservative than I am. And I understand the most conservative value there is is to defend the Constitution,” Cheney told members of the audience.
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Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at a watch party after a presidential debate with former President Donald Trump at the Cherry Street Pier in Philadelphia on Sept. 10, 2024. (Photo by JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images)
However, while Harris is hoping the former Republican lawmaker could help her grab extra voters in what promises to be a razor tight race for Michigan, Cheney’s visit to the state drew ire from a group typically prone to supporting Democrats.
“The Arab American community, as I see it, are very disappointed,” Ghalib, who has now endorsed Trump in the election, said. “To bring this person to our backyard, to remind us all of the tragedies that happened in the Middle East, is something that tells us that there would be more wars coming if Kamala Harris is elected.”
Harris’ struggle with the Arab American population in Michigan predated her rise to the top of the ticket, with a movement out of Dearborn, Michigan, originally gaining traction to resist the re-election of President Biden over dissatisfaction with the administration’s handling of the conflict in Gaza.
Many leaders of the community were willing to give Harris a chance when she replaced Biden as the nominee over the summer, but the disconnect between her and the critical bloc has seemingly grown in the months since.
Vice President Kamala Harris, left, fields questions during a town hall-style campaign event with former U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) on Oct. 21, 2024 in Brookfield, Wisconsin. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)
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“It is very, very disappointing and kind of disgusting to bring somebody, to bring Cheney, over here,” Dearborn Heights Mayor Bill Bazzi said on the same call. “There’s no peace in the family.”
Trump has seemingly gained steam in Michigan in recent weeks, with the most recent Real Clear Politics Polling average showing him up 1.2 points in the state. While it is still a tight race, Trump’s lead marks a dramatic shift from the end of August, when Harris had a 2.2 point lead over the former president. Meanwhile, the state has shifted from “lean Democratic” to “toss up” in the latest version of Fox News’ Power rankings.
Both mayors have thrown their support behind Trump in the upcoming election, while Ghalib argued that Harris bringing Cheney to the state will only serve to alienate more members of the Muslim community.
Vice President Kamala Harris, center, and former GOP Rep. Liz Cheney, right, team up for campaign town-halls in three key battleground states, starting with Malvern, Pennsylvania, on Oct. 21, 2024. (Fox News – Paul Steinhauser)
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“It was very insulting to our community that she comes with Cheney,” Ghalib said. “I don’t know how that is going to help her… I think it’s just a stupid move…it can only hurt.”
The Harris campaign did not immediately respond to a Fox News Digital request for comment.