US Muslims Regret Voting for Donald Trump, Its Downfalls Are Immediately Visible

Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – Muslim leaders who support Republican Donald Trump are deeply disappointed by his pro-Israeli Cabinet picks, they told Reuters.

“Trump won because of us and we weren’t happy with his picks for secretary of state and others,” said Rabiul Chowdhury, a Philadelphia investor who led Harris’ Abandon campaign in Pennsylvania and founded Muslims for Trump.

Muslim support for Trump helped him win Michigan and may have been a factor in winning other states, strategists say.

Trump chose Republican senator Marco Rubio, a staunch supporter of Israel, for secretary of state. Rubio said earlier this year that he would not call for a ceasefire in Gaza, and that he believed Israel should destroy “every element” of Hamas.

“These people are wild animals,” said Rabiul Chowdhury.

Trump also named Mike Huckabee as the next ambassador to Israel. The former Arkansas governor is a pro-Israel conservative who supports Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and calls a two-state solution in Palestine “unworkable.”

Trump has also chosen Republican Representative Elise Stefanik to be the US ambassador to the UN. This person is also considered to be pro-Israel.

Rexhinaldo Nazarko, executive director of the American Muslim Engagement and Empowerment Network (AMEEN), said Muslim voters hoped Trump would pick Cabinet officials who worked for peace, and there was no sign of that.

“We are very disappointed,” he said.

“This administration seems to be completely filled with neoconservatives and people who are very pro-Israel and anti-war, which is a failure on the part of President Trump, against the opposition movement peace and anti-war. “

Nazarko said people will continue to press for their voices to be heard after rallying to help Trump win. “At least we’re on the map.”

Hassan Abdel Salam, a former professor at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities and co-founder of the Abandon Harris campaign, said that Trump’s hiring plan was not surprising, but that it was worse than he feared.

“It seems to go overboard with Zionism,” he said. “We are always very skeptical … of course we are still waiting to see where the government is going to move, but it seems that our community has played.”

The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.

Some of Trump’s Muslim and Arab supporters say they hope Richard Grenell, Trump’s former acting director of national intelligence, will play a key role after months of outreach to Muslim communities and Arab American, and even introduced as the next secretary of state. at various events.

Another key Trump ally, Massad Boulos, the Lebanese father-in-law of Trump’s daughter Tiffany, has repeatedly met with Arab American and Muslim leaders.

Both promised Arab American and Muslim voters that Trump was a peaceful candidate who would act quickly to end wars in the Middle East and beyond. It was not possible to contact immediately.

Trump made several visits to cities with large Arab American and Muslim populations, including stops in Dearborn, a large Arab city, where he said he loved Muslims, and Pittsburgh, where he called Muslims for Trump a “beautiful gesture. They want peace. wants stability.”

Rola Makki, Lebanese Muslim American outreach co-chair for the Michigan Republican Party, dismissed the criticism. “I don’t think everyone will be happy with every meeting Trump makes, but the results are what’s important,” he said.

“I know Trump wants peace, and what people need to realize is that 50,000 Palestinians have been killed and 3,000 Lebanese are dead, and that happened during the administration of – now.”

(fab/fab)