Trump visits Dearborn, a center for Arab Americans, in a last-minute attempt to influence voters: NPR

Former President Donald Trump visits The Great Commoner cafe in Dearborn, Michigan on Friday.

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DEARBORN, Mich. (AP) — Former President Donald Trump made a brief stop in the heavily Arab-American city of Dearborn on Friday and called for an end to the conflict in the Middle East, but gave no details on how he would do so if he were for a second term would be chosen.

While visiting The Great Commoner cafe in Dearborn, Trump used the appearance to address voters angry about the way the Biden administration has handled Israel's war in Gaza and Lebanon.

“We have a great feeling for Lebanon and I know so many people from Lebanon, Lebanese and the Muslim population, they like Trump and have a good relationship with him,” he said. “That’s it, here they are, Dearborn. We want their votes and we’re looking for their votes and I think we’ll get their votes.”

Trump continued to tout poll numbers in Michigan and other swing states before attacking Vice President Harris as an “inferior candidate.”

Both Trump and Harris are holding rallies in Milwaukee on Friday evening, part of several stops in the key blue wall swing states of Michigan and Wisconsin.

Trump has a strained relationship with Arab and Muslim voters and spent much of the last decade demonizing them. In his first days in office, he signed an executive order banning travel from Muslim-majority countries and expressed support for a similar ban if re-elected.

At a rally in Wisconsin earlier this year, he suggested that an influx of migrants into the United States would lead to a terrorist attack similar to the October 7, 2023 attack in Israel, promising: “We do not need jihad in the United States.” America.”

Now Trump is making a last-minute attempt to win over a key demographic to his side in a state he narrowly won by 10,000 votes in 2016 and won by President Biden in 2020.

Asked about talks with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu about ending conflicts in Gaza and Lebanon, Trump criticized current U.S. leadership and said, without giving details, that he would bring peace to the region.

“We will bring peace, you will have peace in the Middle East, but not with the clowns you currently rule in the United States,” he said. “There are people in the Middle East who are not doing their jobs and there are people in the United States who are not doing their jobs, and if they get it together, if they do it right, you will have peace” in the Middle East. “

Harris demonstrates in Wisconsin

In Wisconsin, Harris was scheduled to visit a union hall in Janesville and an event in Appleton before her rally in Milwaukee. She will almost certainly mention in her remarks the violent language Trump used in a late-night diatribe against former Republican Rep. Liz Cheney. Trump highlighted comments from Biden that sounded like he was calling Trump supporters “trash.”

When asked about Trump's visit to Dearborn, Harris told reporters that she receives “significant support” from Arab Americans because of her position on ending the war in Gaza and her commitment to a two-state solution, as well as her positions on economic issues.

“There are many issues within this community that people are challenging and want to hear about,” she said.

Harris had her own problems with Arab American voters who came from opposition to the war in Gaza. Leaders of the “non-committal” movement, which grew out of Democratic opposition to President Biden's policies toward Israel and Gaza, said they would not support Harris for president but urged their followers to vote “against” Trump. Harris' rallies are often interrupted by protesters angry about the war in Gaza.

Harris and Trump are expected to focus some of their messaging on Friday on workers, who make up a significant portion of the electorate in both states. Along with Pennsylvania — the third of the Blue Wall states — Michigan and Wisconsin are home to larger eligible populations of white voters without college degrees than the four other swing states up for grabs.

Biden won Wisconsin in 2020 by just over 20,000 votes.

Trump is holding his Milwaukee rally at the Fiserv Forum, the same arena where he formally accepted the Republican nomination days after an assassination attempt. Harris will be at the Wisconsin State Fair Park Exposition Center, along with a number of musicians including the Isley Brothers and rappers GloRilla and Flo Milli.

The final push

The Midwest turnaround followed stops by both campaigns on Thursday in Arizona and Nevada – where Harris and Trump both sought to rally support among Latino voters.

This weekend they will race from swing state to swing state, trying to build supporters and win over the last remaining undecided voters. Harris will make stops in Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina and Wisconsin before concluding her campaign on Monday with a series of rallies in Pennsylvania – including one in Allentown, where more than half the people are Latino, mostly Puerto Rican.

Trump will travel to Michigan, North Carolina and Wisconsin. He also stops in Virginia – a state that Harris is widely favored to win. He will wrap up his campaign on Monday with stops in North Carolina and Pennsylvania.

Zena Issa of Michigan Public contributed from Dearborn, Michigan.