Heading to Michigan: Trump and Harris campaign in the same key state

Photo: Bill Pugliano Getty Images via AFP In Grand Rapids, Michigan, demonstrators protest US support for Israel as Kamala Harris and Donald Trump campaign in the key presidential state on Friday.

Saul Loeb – Agence France-Presse and Marion Thibaut – Agence France-Presse respectively in Detroit and Washington

Published at 12:52 PM Updated at 1:11 PM

• United States

Donald Trump and Kamala Harris are moving their duel Friday to Michigan, one of the most contested states in a breathless race for the White House, marked by heated debates over American support for Israel.

A very large number of Arab-Americans live in this northern state, which borders Canada.

These voters traditionally tend to support the Democratic presidential candidate but are this year very critical of the Biden administration, of which the Democratic candidate is a part, regarding the war in Gaza and Lebanon.

In Dearborn, a suburb of Detroit, the war in the Middle East is indeed in every conversation.

Marwan Faraj, a 51-year-old American of Lebanese origin, explains to AFP that he has always voted Democrat, but that he will turn his back on Kamala Harris who has supported “this ethnic cleansing and genocide since day one, with our tax money.”

Biden “has ruined everything, and Kamala promises to play the same role,” believes this American who arrived from southern Lebanon at the age of 16 and who runs a center medical.

“We don't want to vote for Trump, because he looks down on us, or for the Democrats who respected us and who are now giving weapons to Israel,” adds Haider Koussan, also of Lebanese origin and co-owner with his brothers of a small supermarket chain.

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Although she has not openly broken with Joe Biden's line, who has given Israel almost unconditional support, Kamala Harris is well aware that this position could cost her votes in an ultra-tight election where every ballot, or almost, counts.

The vice president, who replaced Joe Biden in the race for the White House less than three months ago, is therefore playing a very delicate role in this state, where she has planned three campaign meetings on Friday.

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10 million voters

The 59-year-old candidate said the death of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, announced by Israel on Thursday, offered “an opportunity” to “end” the war in Gaza.

“This war must end in a way that ensures Israel is safe, the hostages are free, the suffering in Gaza ends, and the Palestinian people can exercise their right to dignity, security, freedom and self-determination,” she said.

His Republican rival in the November 5 election had still not reacted Friday to the death of the Hamas leader.

Before a major campaign rally in Detroit, a former stronghold of the American automobile industry, Trump made two appearances Friday on conservative podcasts.

A new opportunity for him to continue his all-out attacks on Harris, hammering home that she is “incompetent” and that her coming to power would be a “disaster.”

“Biden is a grossly incompetent man, but here’s the bad news. “It's worse,” the former president said.

His visit to Michigan is an opportunity to detail, according to his campaign team, how “families have been crushed by inflation, under Kamala's failed leadership.”

Donald Trump also confirmed that he plans to work at a McDonald’s over the weekend, an unusual stop aimed at mocking the Democratic candidate’s comments that she worked there as a student.

The economy, immigration and abortion are among the most debated topics in a particularly tense and close election.

With 18 days to go before the election, the two candidates are neck and neck in each of the most contested states, the so-called “swing states”.

And this is despite a series of unprecedented twists and turns in the campaign: Donald Trump’s criminal conviction, two assassination attempts on his life and Joe Biden’s withdrawal from the race.

More than 10 million Americans have already voted, including more than three million in the swing states, according to data compiled by the University of Florida.

Georgia has broken records, and North Carolina is on track to do the same, including in areas recently hit by the devastating Hurricane Helene.