US election: Trump, Harris eye Arab American votes during Michigan campaign

Republican Donald Trump appealed to Muslim voters in Michigan on Saturday as Michelle Obama prepared to join Kamala Harris at the Democrat's own rally in the battleground state.

In Michigan, Harris and Trump are battling for voters that include a large Arab American and Muslim population concerned about Israel's war in Gaza, and union workers worried about how electric vehicles could reshape the US auto industry, which is headquartered in Detroit, the state's largest city.

Speaking at a rally outside Detroit, Trump said he had just met with group of local imams, arguing that he deserved the support of Muslim voters because he would end conflicts and bring peace to the Middle East.

"That's all they want," Trump said in the Detroit suburb of Novi, also pledging to auto workers at the rally that he would reverse economic decline in the Detroit area and nationwide.

"I think Detroit and some of our areas makes us a developing nation," Trump said.

With some 8.4 million registered voters and 15 electoral college votes of the 270 needed to win, Michigan is one of seven competitive US states that will decide the election. It is part of the "Blue Wall" that is considered Democrats' best chance of electing Harris, along with Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

In the southern Michigan city of Kalamazoo, about 130 miles (210 km) away, Harris and Obama were expected to focus on the contrast between Harris and Trump on abortion rights, taxes, unions and tariffs.

Ahead of the rally, Harris met with women medical providers in Portage, Michigan, where she said the country was in a healthcare crisis following the 2022 ruling by the US Supreme Court that ended women's right to abortion nationwide.

Harris is leading Trump nationally by a marginal 46 per cent to 43 per cent, a recent Reuters/Ipsos poll showed. In Michigan, Harris leads by even less - 47.6 per cent to 47.1 per cent, according to opinion poll aggregator FiveThirtyEight.

Democratic President Joe Biden, Harris' boss, won Michigan by 150,000 votes in the 2020 election against Trump, a margin of less than 3 per cent, while Trump won by 11,000 votes in 2016.

Biden on Saturday stumped for Harris in Pennsylvania, another battleground state, speaking in front of union workers and bringing pizza to a handful of union volunteers phone-banking for Harris at the Allegheny county labour council.

Since the 2020 election, Michigan has instituted early in-person voting for the first time and begun permitting jurisdictions with more than 5,000 people to begin processing and tabulating mail ballots eight days before the November 5 Election Day.

So far, 19.5 per cent of registered voters in Michigan, or nearly 1.42 million people, have voted, Michigan's State Department said on Friday. Only 10,900 were in-person early votes, while the rest were returned absentee ballots.

CELEBRITY APPEAL

Michelle Obama, the popular wife of former President Barack Obama, is the latest example of the Democrats leaning on star power in the final days of the election cycle.

Musicians Bruce Springsteen and Beyonce have both campaigned with the vice president in recent days.

Trump, who was also travelling to Pennsylvania on Saturday, has brought in figures such as retired professional wrestler Hulk Hogan and musician Kid Rock.

In August, Michelle Obama spoke at the Democratic Convention, where she tore into Trump, criticising his character and racist attacks that have targeted her and her husband in the past.

She taunted Trump for his reference on the campaign trail to unspecified "Black jobs" that he said were being taken away from Black Americans by migrants.

"Who's going to tell him that the job he's currently seeking might just be one of those 'Black jobs?'" Obama asked.

Before Biden dropped out of the race in July, a Reuters/Ipsos poll showed that Michelle Obama led Trump 50 per cent to 39 per cent in a hypothetical matchup. She has said repeatedly she does not intend to run for president.