Founder of ‘Arab Americans for Trump’ now has ‘some regrets’, says ‘I had faith. I believed his words’

Political advocacy group Arab Americans for Trump has long raised eyebrows. The group was founded and is chaired by Palestinian-American academic and activist Bishara Bahbah, and its mission is to encourage Arab and Muslim American voters to vote Trump.

While Bahbah may be a fan of Trump and his administration, they don’t appear to have softened their stance against Muslims in return. Galvanized by the rising Democrat star that is Abdul El-Sayed as he battles for the Senate seat in Michigan, Trump recently accused him of being part of a Muslim plot to “invite hordes of jihadists to our shores, creating a nightmare of violence and terror until you cannot even have a Christmas.”

Now, in an interview with The New Yorker‘s Isaac Chotiner, Bahbah has conceded that he may have backed the wrong horse. Bahbah has spoken out against Trump’s Islamophobic comments, but confirmed to Chotiner that ‘Arab Americans for Trump’ is now ‘Arab Americans for Peace.’

“Honestly, I believed him”

Bahbah says the name change came as a result of Trump “talking about Gaza as the property of the United States. I believe that Gaza belongs to the Palestinians and no one else, and therefore that kind of talk really was very upsetting and out of line. Therefore, we changed the name.”

Bahbah – who remains a member of the Republican Party – also had some strong words about the attacks on El-Sayed in Michigan, saying officials had crossed “a red line”, explaining, “like calling him “Muhammad.” We know that Muhammad is widely considered the most popular name in the world. Would the President like to be called something other than Mr. President or Donald J. Trump? Is it acceptable for somebody else to come up with a different name and call him that just because they would like to do so? It’s not.”

Chotiner also pressed Bahbah on why he trusted Trump in the first place. He said his priority was to “end the war in Gaza” and that conversations with Democrats didn’t go anywhere. Trump, however, promised to end the war. But why put your political trust in Donald Trump? Bahbah: “Well, I was counting on his commitment to end the war in Gaza. That was my primary reason. … he told the entire country that he’s a man of peace, that he has not waged any wars during his time, and that he wants to bring about peace in the world. And, honestly, I believed him at the time.”

Bahbah admits “maybe I was too naïve” when it came to dealing with Trump, but says he’s far from alone in putting too much faith in him: “If you’re asking that I had put too much faith in President Trump at the time, I did. If you’re asking me if I had believed his words at the time with regard to the ceasefire in Gaza, I did. If I was misled, I was misled along with the entire country.”

It’s fair to say the”Arab Americans for Trump” mission to convince that demographic to vote Trump has failed. A recent poll from the Arab American Institute says just 26% plan to vote for Republicans, with 90% of them saying candidates’ positions on Gaza are important in determining their vote. They are also getting more politically engaged, with the study finding that a “majority of Arab Americans say they are more likely to participate in politics due to the increase in bigoted attacks from elected officials.”