Political advertisements targeting Michigan’s Muslim and Arab communities are trolling voters over Vice President Kamala Harris’ “unwavering” support for Israel, urging them to “support Harris and her pro-Israel record this November.”
Billboards, mailers and digital online ads aimed at residents in Dearborn, Hamtramck and other Michigan cities with large Muslim populations are riling local residents opposed the Biden-Harris administration’s ongoing support for the nation’s closest ally.
“Billboard and Mailer in Dearborn,” Michigan pro-Palestine activist Hassan Chami posted to X on Tuesday, along with an image of both. “Kamala and the Dems are shoving it down the throats of Arab Americans.”
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The snapshot of the billboard includes both Harris and Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Elissa Slotkin, with the message: “The Pro-Israel Team We Can Trust.”
The mailer features an image of Harris and touts her “Unwavering support for Israel.”
“Tough on Hamas terrorists who slaughtered innocent Jews,” it continues. “Stood up to pro-Palestinian protestors. Welcomed Prime Minister Netanyahu to our nation’s capitol.”
“Let’s make history: Support Harris and her pro-Israel record this November,” read the mailer, which was “paid for by Future Coalition PAC.”
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Local Bob Goniea posted about the mailer in response to a Breitbart News X post “Kamala Harris Support Among Arab Voters in Michigan Dwindles – Risks Losing State.”
“It’s going to dwindle even more after what arrived in my mail yesterday,” Goniea posted Tuesday with an image of the mailer. “I can’t believe the campaign sent this out here in Dearborn where she’s trying to win over the Arab population.”
In February, more than 100,000 Democrats – including most in Dearborn, Dearborn Heights, and Hamtramck – voted “uncommitted” in the primary to demand the Biden-Harris administration call for a ceasefire and halt all military aid to Israel.
The “uncommitted” campaign, along with an aligned “Abandon Biden” movement that recently rebranded as “Abandon Harris,” has expanded in the months since to more than 700,000 voters nationwide.
Polling from the Council on American Islamic Relations released last month shows 40% of Michigan’s Muslim-American voters plan to back Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein in November, while 18% support former President Donald Trump, 12% support Harris, and 4% plan to vote for independent candidate Cornel West.
Michigan is home to the nation’s largest Arab population, and the CAIR survey found 69.1% of American Muslims said they generally vote for the Democratic Party. In the 2020 election, the Muslim voter population in Michigan increased 27% from 2016 to 206,050, or a little over 50,000 more than President Joe Biden’s margin of victory over Trump in 2020, according to an Emgage report on Muslim voter turnout.
The billboard and mailers come just a few weeks after Amer Ghalib, mayor of the only Muslim majority city in the U.S. – Hamtramack, endorsed Trump for president.
The Abandon Harris campaign is expected to follow on Wednesday with an endorsement for Stein.
The direct outreach also follows about a month after Future Coalition PAC launched similar digital ads on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and X, with video touting how Harris put “supporters of a free Palestine … in their place” – referencing how the VP shut down pro-Palestine hecklers at a campaign event in Detroit.
Those ads, like the billboard and mailers, were targeted at zip codes including Dearborn and other areas with large Muslim populations.
“Vice President Harris has chosen a side – the right side,” a female narrator says in one 30-second video connected to the ads cited by The Huffington Post. “Harris has made herself clear: She stands with Israel and the Jewish people. She has, again and again. She understands the unbreakable bond between the U.S. and Israel. So when [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu came to D.C., Harris hosted the prime minister at the White House. And when supporters of a free Palestine stood up for Gaza, Harris put them in their place.”
The Post reports FEC documents for the Future Coalition PAC behind the efforts “indicate its treasurer is Ray Zamborney, a Pennsylvania-based Republican operative.”
Priorities USA Action, “the largest Democratic Party super PAC,” filed an FEC complaint against Future Coalition PAC in September alleging the group did not comply with reporting obligations tied to the ads.
“Future Coalition PAC’s anti-Semitic targeted ads are an assault on the principles of justice and equality, and they are putting hatred front and center in this election,” Priorities Executive Director Danielle Butterfield said in a statement. “These shady tactics are just another Republican trick to divide Americans. We urge the FEC to take swift action to hold bad actors accountable, provide transparency and protect the integrity of the democratic process.”
FEC reports show the PAC has since filed eight separate 48-hour reports.
The spending includes $1,386,676 in support of Harris, and $204,081 against, as well as $66,680 for Slotkin and the same amount against, according to Open Secrets.