'Disappointed but not surprised': American Arabs and Muslims react to Donald Trump's 2024 US election win

“I’d be lying if I said I was shocked.”

These were the words of Bushra Amiwala, the first Gen Z Muslim elected official in the US, in response to former President Donald Trump pulling off one of the biggest comebacks in modern American political history.

However, Bushra is not alone in her views. How was he able to win, given that he is a convicted felon and the first president to be impeached twice?

To better understand the reaction to Trump’s win, The New Arab spoke to American Arabs and Muslims, all of whom shared mixed views.

While some expressed concern about the war on Gaza in the lead-up to the election, according to recent surveys, others voiced worries about a second Trump term, while some celebrated the result.

Not surprised

According to an election summary report for the city of Dearborn, Michigan, Trump received the most votes in the city, which has the largest proportion of Arab and Muslim residents in the US.

Bushra told The New Arab that she was not surprised by Trump’s victory but was taken aback by the dramatic difference from previous elections.

More than 90% of American counties shifted to the right compared to the 2020 election, and Trump became the first Republican candidate in two decades to win the popular vote.

Ibrahim, a former SJP board member at Emory University involved in the Gaza solidarity encampment last spring, wasn’t shocked by the result, saying he was “disappointed but not surprised.”

He added, “The Democratic Party lost its appeal to a lot of people, especially working-class people and minorities. They need to do a lot of internal reflection over the next four years and think about who voters are actually looking for. It’s not just identity politics.”

Ibrahim also believes the Democratic Party shifted to the right in an attempt to appeal to centrist and Republican voters, but in doing so, they lost the support of left-leaning voters.

Alissa Hakim, a Lebanese-American from Dearborn, also said she wasn’t surprised by the result, and like Bushra and Ibrahim, she was critical of the Democratic Party.

“What Republicans do is proudly unveil their own bigotry, whereas Democrats conceal it with flowery language,” she said. “That’s what cost them the election.”

Alissa added that she voted third-party because she “wasn’t going to vote for a candidate funding Israel’s occupation and genocide in Palestine and its war in Lebanon.”

She continued, “I’m sick of the fear tactics politicians use to guilt Americans into voting for them. There have been plenty of opportunities to make real change over the past four years.”

Ryan Mirza, a Yemeni-American student at the University of Michigan raised in Dearborn, voted for Jill Stein in the hope that the Green Party could secure the 5% of the vote needed to qualify for federal funding.

He told The New Arab that he would have been disappointed by the election result regardless of the outcome.

“Regardless of who won, I knew the elected president wouldn’t represent me or address the issues I care about, like ending the genocide in Palestine,” he said.

Trump's win is not a reason to celebrate

It has been almost a week since the election results were announced, and some have told The New Arab that Trump’s win should not be celebrated.

Ryan, for example, says he finds it “ridiculous” that some Arabs are celebrating Trump’s victory.

“This is the same Trump who implemented the Muslim ban, the same Trump who said Biden was 'holding Netanyahu back,'” he said.

At the same time, Ryan expressed concern about the blame being placed on Arab and Muslim voters, stating that even if all third-party votes had gone to Harris, Trump would still have won all seven key battleground states and secured the election.

“Why is it that we are condemning minorities instead of holding the Democratic Party and Harris accountable for their lack of moral compass and revolting support for Israel?” he says.

“Why are we not condemning those who voted for Trump? Why are we not condemning white supremacists and misogynists?” 

Voting local

Reflecting on the US elections, Bushra says the Democrats lacked a substantive platform beyond encouraging people to vote against Trump.

She adds that, for the Muslim community, the focus now should be on 2028 and rallying behind a unifying candidate. She is also encouraging “voting local, organising local” and exercising civic power.

“There is no reason why a candidate would listen to a demographic of community members who don't cast their vote,” she says.

Nada Shalash is an Egyptian-American writer based in New Jersey, with bylines in Business Insider, Times Union, Boston Political Review, and other outlets. She was previously a Research Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School, where she works on projects on racial discrimination in the criminal legal system

Follow her on X: @Nada_Shalash_