An imam in Detroit is signing onto a letter from more than 20 Muslim religious leaders from around the country in support of Vice President Kamala Harris in her presidential campaign.
It’s a response to heavy criticism that Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, has faced for her and President Joe Biden’s support of Israel in its war with Hamas in Gaza.
Imam Mika’il Stewart Saadiq said Harris shouldn’t take the punishment for Biden's policies.
“We don’t believe that it should fall upon everyone who he’s affiliated with, who is not the commander in chief. The vice president is not the commander in chief. The vice president, she works for her boss,” Stewart Saadiq said.
Harris has said she does not support any changes in U.S. policy when it comes to sending weapons to Israel. Stewart Saadiq said he interpreted her words to be more in favor of continuing American allyship with Israel, accusing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of being a “bad friend” in that partnership.
Both the letter and the Harris campaign say the vice president has been reaching out to Muslim and Arab leaders, using a meeting last week with folks from a Washington D.C.-based group, Emgage, in Flint as an example.
That lack of a support for a policy shift, however, has led to pro-ceasefire groups working against Harris this election cycle.
One of those groups, Abandon Harris, recently endorsed Green Party Candidate Jill Stein as an alternative. The organization held a press conference Wednesday afternoon in Dearborn to formally announce its pick.
Stewart Saadiq acknowledged the pain and frustration communities across the state and country are feeling as war in the region continues and spreads. But he said a previous letter he saw encouraging Muslims to vote third party didn’t have as much perspective from African American imams.
“Those that possibly were of generations of Americans that really gained civil rights victories and descendants of those who gained civil rights victories for all of us, especially minorities,” Stewart Saadiq said.
He previously told WDET that he would not “spit in the face of [his] ancestors,” when discussing his views on the election.
When asked to clarify Wednesday, Stewart Saadiq said he sees accomplishments of the American civil rights movement as at risk this election.
“A lot of these things that we’re trying to evolve, and to really try to gain all of our humanity as African Americans, they’re under assault,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Trump campaign is trying to make its own inroads into Black and Muslim communities, highlighting criminal justice legislation and public safety policy stances.
Both campaigns are likely to continue trying to court Muslim voters since the group could make a critical difference as the race remains tight in Michigan.
