Some of the very Muslims who campaigned wholeheartedly for Biden in 2020 say they won’t do it again. One such supporter is Dearborn resident Suzan Faraj, who estimates that she knocked on “thousands” of doors in Dearborn, motivated by a desire to get rid of Donald Trump. She convinced her Lebanese immigrant family, split between Dearborn and Chicago, to also volunteer. “This was the first time we wanted to get everybody out there and vote and get Donald Trump out of the White House,” Faraj told The New Republic. “This was our main mission, and this [referring to Gaza] is what we got right now. This is betrayal.”
Faraj says that in recent weeks, she has been the subject of attacks and harassment, all part of a backlash she is now receiving for her previous efforts to help elect Biden. “I don’t need to hear those words, I’m already upset enough,” Faraj said. “I feel like I’m getting blamed for encouraging so many to go out, and vote for him.”
In 2020, she even got her elderly Lebanese immigrant mother, suffering from stage one cancer, to stand in line and vote for Biden. Just a couple of months ago, she says, her mother said she wanted to meet the president. Now Faraj says that her mother says, “I hate him, I can’t believe I wanted to meet him. Get him out of my face.”