Trump seeks to use Cheney’s appearance with Harris to win Arab American voters

Former President Trump on Monday attacked Vice President Harris and former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) ahead of a series of joint appearances by the pair in battleground states, with Trump seeking to appeal to Arab Americans by painting Cheney as a warmonger.

“Arab Voters are very upset that Comrade Kamala Harris, the Worst Vice President in the History of the United States and a Low IQ individual, is campaigning with ‘dumb as a rock’ War Hawk, Liz Cheney, who, like her father, the man that pushed Bush to ridiculously go to War in the Middle East, also wants to go to War with every Muslim Country known to mankind,” Trump posted on Truth Social.

“If Kamala gets four more years, the Middle East will spend the next four decades going up in flames, and your kids will be going off to War, maybe even a Third World War, something that will never happen with President Donald J. Trump in charge,” he added.

Harris and Cheney will sit down for town hall events in suburban counties in Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania on Monday. The events are intended to simultaneously appeal to suburban voters and to Republicans who are skeptical of supporting Trump for a second term.

Cheney and her father, former Vice President Dick Cheney, have endorsed Harris and argued Trump poses a threat to democracy. Trump has long feuded with Liz Cheney, once the No. 3 House Republican, over her role on the select committee that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot.

Democrats have faced an uphill battle in winning over swaths of the Arab American population amid concerns over the Biden administration’s handling of the Israel-Hamas war.

Arab Americans first expressed outrage against President Biden when he was running for reelection, pointing to his handling of the war and support for Israel even as Israeli forces killed thousands of Palestinians in Gaza. That frustration has carried over to Harris after she replaced Biden as the nominee, as the vice president has not articulated any specific policy changes she would make in U.S. support for Israel. She has instead stressed the need for a peace deal.

Harris earlier this month met briefly with Arab American leaders to listen to their concerns about the ongoing conflicts in the Middle East during a campaign trip to Michigan — a key battleground state with a large Arab American population. Polls have shown Trump and Harris neck and neck in the state, which traditionally votes for Democratic nominees but that Trump won in 2016.

Trump has repeatedly claimed the Israel-Hamas war would not have started if he were in office, though he has offered few specifics about how he would handle the situation differently from the Biden White House. Trump drew scrutiny earlier this month when he claimed he had been to Gaza and suggested the territory could be “better than Monaco” if rebuilt properly.