By Charles Sercombe
Hamtramck has had a long tradition of hosting presidents and presidential candidates throughout the decades.
Last Friday was no different when former president Donald Trump made a short stop at the new Trump campaign office at Jos. Campau and Pulaski.
Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, is now seeking a return to the White House after losing his re-election bid in 2020 to President Joe Biden.
He is facing off, this time, with Vice President Kamala Harris for the job.
On a gorgeous sunny and 70-plus degree Friday afternoon, a crowd of about 100 people showed up to watch the arrival of the Trump motorcade, complete with police cars flashing their lights and sounding their sirens.
Trump’s black, and window-tinted, SUV pulled into a tent erected outside the office. Once through an open flap in the tent, it was quickly closed, thus preventing a glimpse of the former president.
The scene was typical of a presidential candidate visit, with Secret Service sharpshooters stationed on nearby rooftops, a phalanx of officers from the city, state and Secret Service, and a helicopter briefly circling overhead.
To say the least, security was tight.
Those who attended the private meeting included Mayor Amer Ghalib, City Councilmembers Abu Musa, Khalil Refai and Muhtasin Sadman, and various city officials. A number of city employees were also on the scene, including officers and firefighters.
As for the crowd, it was mostly Trump supporters, but there were one or two protestors who shouted “F— Trump” several times. The protestors were loudly shouted down.
Many in attendance word red T-shirts saying “Trump Force” with the word “captain” underneath.
Earlier in the day, a woman, who was wearing a leopard-printed mouth and nose mask, as well as sunglasses, stood in front of the campaign office holding up a sign saying “Wayne County Fascist Headquarters.” Included on the sign was a drawing of a red MAGA hat.
Two husky males in street clothing, who appeared to be security or police officers, confronted the woman, but nothing came of the encounter.
The Trump meeting was arranged, primarily, by Mayor Ghalib, the city’s first Yemeni-American and Muslim to be voted in as mayor.
Ghalib, who had identified as a Democrat, made national news by endorsing Trump, despite Trump’s having instituted a travel ban against some Muslim countries — including Yemen, where Ghalib emigrated from — while he was president.
In an interview with WXYZ Channel 7, Ghalib seemingly brushed off that history.
“I may disagree with him about that. I know that Yemen was in the ban before, which is the country I came from. I hope that he will consider that the Yemeni people, the Yemeni neighborhoods in the United States, are some of the safest. The crime rates are some of the lowest,” he said.
Ghalib, and many other Muslims in the Detroit area, have turned against President Biden because of his ongoing support for Israel, and his providing of military support for Israel’s invasion of Gaza where, now, over 40,000 Palestinians have been killed.
In the Democratic Presidential Primary last February, many Muslims here did not vote for Biden in what was called an “uncommitted” stance against the president.
Ghalib said at the meeting, according to various recordings of the event that were posted on Facebook, that there is one goal: “To send President Trump back to the White House.”
Occasionally chants of “USA, USA, USA” and “Fight, Fight, Fight,” broke out. Ghalib also repeated why he is championing Trump, saying “He is a man of principle.”
Ghalib went on to say, “President Trump keeps saying that our country is in decline, and the ship is sinking. So sometimes it’s wise enough to sail against the wave so we can get to the shore safely under the leadership of President Trump, and that’s why I endorsed President Trump in this area in Wayne County.”
During Ghalib’s introduction, Trump stood to his left and occasionally beamed in agreement, sometimes also swaying his body left and right.
At his turn to address the attendees, Trump focused on auto plants being built in Mexico and how he had prevented that from happening.
As for the growing Middle East crisis, which now includes Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon trading missiles, Trump said he will bring peace to the Middle East.
“You know, we all ultimately want one thing. We want peace in the Middle East, and we’re going to get peace in the Middle East,” Trump said.
However, when Trump landed at Metro Airport, Trump criticized President Biden for restraining Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s war on Gaza.
“Biden is trying to hold him (Netanyahu) back,” Trump said. “He probably should be doing the opposite.”
Trump also said that “it was an honor in receiving your endorsement” to those attending.
As for the mayor, Trump said: “I think he has a hell of a future, don’t you think?”
Ghalib, in turn, flashed a wide smile at the remark.
Ghalib also made it a point to have Trump clarify whether he would deport immigrants who are second and third generation – something he said that Democrats say to “scare” people.
Trump had a two-word response: “Fake news.”That was met with a rousing applause.
Trump went on to say, about Democratic critics: “Every week they have a new concept of me: I’m going to be the biggest dictator in the world; I’m going to destroy the world; they have so many things they have said about me. Nothing sticks.”
And then, turning to Ghalib: “Is this the new one, I’m going to come and deport?”
Before Trump left, Ghalib presented him with a “Certificate of Appreciation.”
Trump then departed for campaign events in Auburn Hills and, later, in downtown Detroit.
Not surprisingly, one of the state’s top Democrats, Hamtramck’s own State Rep. Abraham Aiyash, who is the majority floor leader, didn’t mince words about his view of Trump.
“He is a lying, xenophobic, self-serving man who is unfit and unworthy of serving as POTUS,” he said, in a social media post on X.
Aiyash has refused to say whether he is endorsing Harris or anyone in the election. He, too, had a falling out with the Biden administration over the U.S. funding of Israel and its war in Gaza.
Aiyash is not seeking re-election this year.
Over the past several decades, a number of presidents have visited Hamtramck.
That long history includes Presidents Franklin Roosevelt, Harry Truman, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton and presidential hopefuls: John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy, Ronald Reagan, Michael Dukakis, Jerry Brown and others.
Posted Oct. 25, 2024
Resident
October 25, 2024 at 1:41 pm
Vote Democratic! Vote Kamala!!
My Yemeny neighbors – Donald Trump sold bombs to MBS of Saudi Arabia who was bombing Yemen. Never forget that!
Vote Kamala. Vote Democratic Party candidates!
-Resident, your well wishing neighbor
arab george
October 25, 2024 at 4:27 pm
Tell the well wishing neighbor. It is our land now. Go back to warsaw! or keiv! The concern of muslim/arabs are non of your business. Don’t concern yourself with the affairs of muslims/arabs. you are an evil westerner!
Resident
October 25, 2024 at 10:15 pm
@arab george – I am a native Bangla speaker. I am not evil. My root is in the east… The last time Donald Trump was president, Israel moved its capital to Jerusalem. US moved its embassy to Jerusalem also. The next time Trump becomes president, Israel will claim all of Gaza and squeeze West Bank into nothing. Say goodbye to a 2-states solution. Say goodbye to a Palestine state…I am fine with one state solution, so long there is a place for Palestinians to live. There are plenty Arabs living in Israel. I suppose all others could do the same…
-Resident
arab george
October 26, 2024 at 1:42 pm
I’m not a trump voter nor a trump supporter. I assumed and you assumed so we’re both guilty of assuming. I’m one who feels that a weakened america means better chances for world peace. If you truly are concerned for the affairs of the muslims, you’d feel the same thing.