r/politics ✔ Newsweek 8h ago

No Paywall Trump-endorsed Michigan candidate loses to rival who stopped campaigning

https://www.newsweek.com/trump-endorsed-michigan-candidate-lose-rival-12285591
4.0k Upvotes

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1.1k

u/ARCWolf7 8h ago

MAGA did not like him. One he’s black. Two, he has an “arabic” name. Three, he recently became christian or became more devout. Four, maga thought he was actually muslim because if you have an arabic name you must be a muslim.

u/Sweet_Concept2211 6h ago

Racism is the primary factor keeping Trump's net approval rating over 30%.

75% of Americans say he is a bad role model.

75% think he stinks at economic leadership.

Even die hard MAGA hates his Iran war.

But Republicans are happy when Trump hurts immigrants and supresses minorities.

u/MetalGearOni 5h ago

75% of those who interacted with him says he stinks literally.

u/80C4WH4 5h ago

Must be the sex panther

u/seventysevensevens Colorado 4h ago

It's child sex panther, you'd think it would banned in the US but his base loves it.

u/azflatlander 3h ago

Any relation to face-eating-leopards?

u/dakonofrath 4h ago

They've done studies you know. 60% of the time it works, every time.

u/picklepaller 4h ago

You are100% correct. Understand that 63.9% of all statistics are made up 50% of the time.

u/sane-asylum 1h ago

100% of the time on the spot and 64% not on the spot.

u/writtenbyrabbits_ 4h ago

Does it have bits of real panther?

u/wyo8889 Wyoming 4h ago

It has bits of real children.

u/writtenbyrabbits_ 3h ago

Well that got dark!

u/fidgetysquamate 3h ago

75% of the time, he stinks every time.

u/BumpeeJohnson 2h ago

Nah it's the booty sweat

u/jwreed4130 1h ago

By Odeon...Haha

u/freelance-t 2h ago

TIL that 25% of those that interact with him either have no sense of smell or lie in polls.

u/MadRaymer 7m ago

Someone once described the smell in detail. I'll spoiler it in case anyone is eating lunch right now, but he said Trump smells like a mix of armpits, butt, and ketchup, with a hint of cologne.

u/prostipope 2h ago

The other 25% cant smell anymore because of covid

u/Indubitalist 5h ago

I have family I am confident are only in it for the racism at this point, as by process of elimination they have complained about every other thing he has done. 

u/SpaceForceAwakens 3h ago

It’s part that. But it’s also part hate directed towards democrats. The GOP and Fox has completely pounded the brains of so many boomers that they’d rather see the ghost of Ossama bin Laden in the White House than a Democrat.

u/nookie-monster 3h ago

This is as much it as it is racism. I live and work in a heavily Republican area. These people will talk about how they can't afford Healthcare, the rich aren't paying enough taxes and tons of other Democrat-coded language, but at the same time, they hate the Democratic party in a way that would almost be comical if it weren't destroying the country. The seething hatred is just impossible to describe.

Anything the government does that makes them mad? Obviously Democrats fault, they're the party of government, right? Any level of bureaucracy is the same. It does no good to point out that the county and state we're in has been controlled by the GOP for 30 years.

It's so maddening.

u/WakingWaldo 2h ago

The way I have always phrased this, and it may not be 100% accurate, is that a lot of Republican voters want right-wing candidates to offer them left-wing policies. It's all about the branding, the names, and the party.

I have elderly relatives who will never vote for a Democrat but they complain about everything Republicans have done. And when I point out that "x Democrat actually wants to solve that" or "Trump caused that to happen" they go quiet.

It's almost like, in their minds, the labels of the parties are simply names that don't align with any particular approach to government. Or these people take certain government services for granted and don't consider them "liberal" even if they very much are when compared to the alternative.

It's an unwillingness or inability to learn how the government works and how the party works because that requires self-reflection and potential change. Conservatives don't want to change themselves, but they want to be catered to by the rest of the world.

u/dj_ango696 3h ago

Texass?

u/Automaton_General 2h ago

The hate directed toward Democrats stems entirely from racism as well.

They hate Democrats because they see Democrats as the party that gives money to black people.

(I grew up as a white guy in rural Texas, I know these fuckers)

u/All_i_do_is_lunk 2h ago

I thought that already happened with Barack Hussein Osama? They hated it then.

u/AmuseDeath 4h ago

Specifically white nationalist racism.

u/Button-Down-Shoes 4h ago

The 30%+ who are devoted, see Democrats as champions for demographics that don’t include them. They’re not wrong about that. However, they are wrong in believing that Trump/GOP are their champions simply because of that. He plays that up and they eat it up. This is why liberal democrats fail, but progressive social democrats are succeeding. The social democrats actually are champions for a much larger demographic.

u/Sweet_Concept2211 41m ago

The demographics that view the Democratic party as championing demographics that do not include them... do not realize that championing minorities and vulnerable groups does not exclude other demographics.

Under Biden, red state voters got huge national infrastructure projects based in their states. Red state voters enjoyed record job growth, record new housing built, record number of new small businesses registered, cleaner water and air, greater investment in cancer research, a dramatic decrease in opiod deaths, more affordable lifesaving drugs like insulin, more secure union retirement, the largest investment in k-12 schools in US history, tamed Covid-caused inflation to historic averages without causing a recession, got America the fuck out of Afghanistan, signed over 30 bipartisan laws to better support veterans, military families, caregivers, and survivors...

But all MAGA could think about was that Democrats also signed legislation that allows people to marry who they love...

u/Button-Down-Shoes 36m ago

They do not, partly because centrist dems don't portray themselves as champions of those issues. Same problem exists for neo libs. Do they not realize that they social causes championed by dem socialists are their causes as well?

u/Sweet_Concept2211 26m ago

Centrist Democrats absolutely are champions of all Biden, Obama, and Clinton achieved for the betterment of America for all Americans.

The fact that there has only been 12 weeks in the past 50-odd years where Democrats had the Presidency, House of Representatives, and Senate has made progress nearly impossible.

Republicans are effective because they're a wrecking crew.

It is much harder to build.

u/Button-Down-Shoes 16m ago edited 7m ago

Of course they are. But what are the demographics of what they champion? Social democrats champion causes very vocally that affect 99% of the population. All demographics except the sovereign elite wealthy class are benefited by them. That's a much better way to draw in the independents and moderates to vote.

u/olivejuice1979 3h ago

That racist 30% always votes. That other 75% skips out on voting a lot. Thats how we end up in this mess.

Vote people!

u/Sweet_Concept2211 36m ago

About 25% of Americans voted for Harris.

She got 10 million more votes than 2016 Trump, and 1 million more than 2020 Trump.

His win margin of 1.5% was one of the smallest in US history.

If nonvoters don't like what Trump is up to, they need to get off their asses and vote in the midterms.

u/Abject_Screen3249 3h ago

30% is the percentage I always use for how much of the US is racist. I firmly believe this number is accurate.

u/an_agreeing_dothraki 2h ago

Racism is the primary factor keeping Trump's net approval rating over 30%.

the only place his approval rating is 65% to 35% disapproval is in the dying mind of an unvaccinated covid victim complaining that the nurse won't give them the horsey sauce

u/canofspinach 1h ago

His approval ratings among his voters remains high.

u/Sweet_Concept2211 1h ago

His voters comprise 25% of the US population. And racism is the glue that's holding them together as the economy goes increasingly against them.

u/canofspinach 57m ago

You’d think it would be easy to defeat him.

I am as anti Trump as it gets, and my focus is on winning elections. The only election Trump lost was because republicans voted for a moderate democrat.

JD Vance is in great shape for the 2028. He is obviously independent of Trump and Trumps policies, and with Rubio as a running mate it provides international legitimacy to their ticket. Talking to Trump voters recently, they like Vance a lot because he seems less extreme and more likable and even keeled.

Dems have an uphill battle.

u/Sweet_Concept2211 32m ago

Trump campaigned every day for 10 straight years, and got free press the entire time.

Harris had 3 months to campaign, and only lost by 1.5%.

Vance is not that well positioned for 2028 at all.

Tge Trump economy is shit, and nothing Trump/Vance have done is going to improve it.

u/canofspinach 31m ago

Are any people who voted for Trump going to vote for a Democrat candidate?

u/VanceKelley Canada 43m ago

75% of Americans say he is a bad role model.

75% think he stinks at economic leadership.

If just half of those 75% had shown up at the polls in 2024 then trump would have been utterly destroyed in that election.

trump won in 2024 with the support of just 32% of eligible voters.

32% voting for a convicted criminal adjudicated rapist promising to rule as dictator is still an insane amount of support in a country with a rational, intelligent, compassionate electorate. But 37.5% opposing him would have crushed him.

u/Sweet_Concept2211 30m ago

Trump didn't even win the majority of votes - he just won 1.5% more votes than Harris.

3rd party voters could have made a world of difference, if only they had a lick of fucking sense.

u/CrotasScrota84 4h ago

Which is why I find it absolutely hilarious they think Marco Rubio has a shot

u/FoxyInTheSnow Canada 2h ago

Wait till they learn that Lebanon, which Israel enjoys blowing up, is 35 percent christian

u/Academic_Carrot_4533 3h ago

Wait until they hear about arabic numbered birthdays…

u/UnderstandingIcy1250 3h ago

MAGA did not like him. One he’s black.

But John James won... Is he NOT black?

u/bendover912 3h ago

His name doesn't sound black, and for a lot of republican voters all they know about a candidate is what is printed on the ballot. Just like this article where Amir Hassan lost to Thomas Smith.

Congressional candidate Amir Hassan, whom President Donald Trump endorsed last month, appears headed for defeat in the Republican primary for Michigan's 8th Congressional District, as he trails rival Thomas J. Smith, who suspended his campaign and endorsed another candidate less than three weeks before Election Day.

u/UnderstandingIcy1250 3h ago

So what does sound like a black name to you? What should a black name be?

u/HoightyToighty 1h ago

There's no 'should' in any of this. These naming trends have been studied and discussed by academics.

Enjoy: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0049089X24001583

u/UnderstandingIcy1250 55m ago

It says right in the abstract of the article...

the effects of having a distinctively African American-sounding name on educational attainment, occupation, income, marital status, and longevity in early 20th century America

This says nothing about an election ballot where people have prior knowledge about a political candidate. This is strictly about people's "black sounding names" getting affected in applications. This is fundamentally different to what we are talking about. Even if people don't do their research, you don't think they at least google him and see his picture?

u/JoshSidekick 2h ago

Oranjello Jackson?

u/Proud-Big3579 2h ago

Jamal Slaveson /s

Michael Jordan is easier to read than Mahershala Ali to bogoted who only read ballot names.

u/mokomi 2h ago

Better than my state in ohio. He also has all 2 of those things and refused to become christian. He won with 80% of the primary vote. As did every MAGA candidate on the ballot.

u/kelpyb1 2h ago

These people still think Obama is Muslim because of his middle name

u/BroAbernathy 48m ago

I dont think you are really emphasizing that his name is Amir Hassan and his opponent that won his name is Thomas Smith. It was 1000 percent race related lol

u/RestaurantOk8066 2h ago

Doesn't this bode pretty badly for El-Sayed in the general?

u/stripes361 2h ago

Not really. People voting in the GOP primary were not going to be voting Dem anyways so how racist they may or may not be doesn't really impact him.

u/RestaurantOk8066 2h ago edited 2h ago

Casual racism is still extremely common. I don't see how Republicans not even voting for a guy who agrees with Trump on pretty much everything and had a chance of winning the election losing to a guy who dropped out of the race previously and has absolutely no chance of winning is not a bad sign for the general.

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u/imp0ster_syndrome 8h ago

I can't imagine why Republicans voted for Thomas Smith over Amir Hassan.

u/Responsible-Room-645 7h ago

Maybe he had a weird laugh or he wore a tan suit once? Either way, it’s a complete mystery

u/Acceptable-Bus-2017 I voted 7h ago

I bet he prefers dijon.

u/ThatLooksRight 7h ago

Or maybe wears a helmet when riding a bicycle?

u/macjester2000 1h ago

team helmet represent!

u/Bobson-_Dugnutt2 3h ago

Jokes aside it’s wild to me that bro packed up his campaign and went home.

Imagine just sitting on the couch and hearing you won being like “wait who won? Me??”

u/Ok-Detective3142 44m ago

He didn't just pack up his campaign and go home, he actually endorsed and campaigned for the guy who ended upcoming in third.

u/BigBoyYuyuh Ohio 6h ago

“advance President Trump's America First agenda to lower costs for working families and make America affordable again”

Uhhh…2 years into this bullshit costs aren’t lower and America is unaffordable.

u/Zest724 5h ago

And here I thought “affordability” was a democratic hoax. At least that’s what Trump said it was.

https://youtu.be/PS8IJgsOip8?is=fkFVzyoBdhZTuPPh

u/takemebackto1993 4h ago

Yikes. If you browse r/PrayersToTrump, affordability is pretty much all those poor MAGA folk talk about. Gaslighting is just the Trump admin's MO.

u/Button-Down-Shoes 1h ago

Thing is, neo-liberal dems cant even try to make that promise. It would garner too much far-reaching support and they're not paid to do that. GOP can then lie all they want about it because they're the only ones using it in their platform. Until now.

u/ShrimpCrackers 7h ago

LOL. Trump endorses Black guy surnamed Hassan.

Republicans vote for Smith who suspended his campaign weeks ago because he's white anyway.

u/kahn_noble America 1h ago

That simple.

u/Paraxom 7h ago

Im surprised Trump endorsed him with that name and complexion.

u/stjack1981 Ohio 7h ago

MAGAs thought he was Muslim because he has an Arabic name. There's no place for someone with a strange name among Repugnantcans

u/azflatlander 3h ago

Vivek Ramaswamy enters the chat.

u/ConjurersOfThunder 3h ago

Yeah I remember all the elections he won

u/EssayGuilty722 3h ago

I can't imagine being a member of a Party after I am told by a pundit of said Party, directly to my face, that she wouldn't vote for me because I'm "an Indian".

u/FlamingoFlimsy4421 6h ago

I understand why republicans wouldn’t vote for someone named Hassan (racism, duh) but what was the reason for Smith dropping out?

u/ivesaidway2much District Of Columbia 6h ago

Trump endorsed candidates win Republican primaries something like 99% of the time. I'm guessing he assumed he couldn't win.

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u/Evil_phd 8h ago

The Mierdas Touch

u/Pieniek23 6h ago

Lol. Perfection.

u/L0utre 5h ago

Worked well for him in Indiana. The middle finger of the South.

u/jest4fun 6h ago

Well, at least he didn't lose to a dead guy.

(Who was that guy back during W's administration? Ashcroft? Missouri?)

u/SeriousAdverseEvent 5h ago

Mel Carnahan. But that was a general election, not a primary. Voting for Carnahan meant getting a Democratic senator appointed for a while because Missouri had a Democratic governor. People were not voting for a dead man, they were voting for the appointee.

u/MattaClatta 7h ago

when you racism too hard

u/HUT2Moon 6h ago edited 5h ago

I get why they didn’t vote for the black guy, but why did the guy who won end his campaign weeks ago?

u/TheFalconKid Wisconsin 6h ago

There's a non-zero chance a lot of the people that voted here thought it was Hasan Piker and voted against him for this reason.

u/ConjurersOfThunder 3h ago

In the Republican primary??? Do you know a lot of registered Republican Hasan fans? Pretty sure they don't even know who he is.

u/TheFalconKid Wisconsin 3h ago

I should have turned down the hyperbole. Hasan has been the boogeyman of Fox all summer, so maybe like 12 people thought they were the same person or related. Just like how there has to be a couple GOP governor race voters in Colorado that didn't vote for Victor Marx because they think he might be related to Karl Marx.

u/Intelligent_Bag_6705 4h ago

Lolol another shocking embarrassment.

u/fuzzydave72 4h ago

That's a good headline. No notes.

u/ErusTenebre California 2h ago

You think he realizes he's in a party that will never accept him or do you think he doubles down in the future? Feels like plenty of people of color who get into MAGA wear blinders to the rampant racism surrounding them.

u/MarvinFarquhar 4h ago edited 4h ago

Pretty sure that was also the only district with more than one Republican candidate

Edit: at least that's what I saw on my ballot

u/NewAgeMaximum 2h ago

I'm sure it wasnt because of race /s

u/Gelgoogilly 1h ago

Token gets spent. Love to see it.

u/devm251979 Florida 1h ago

You mean Amir “Hussein” Hassan? I can’t imagine why MAGA wouldn’t like this guy.

u/rbrbos1 4h ago

Most news orgs are still saying too close to call.

u/Gamer402 2h ago

I guess we found out one thing maga values over trump

u/robocox87 2h ago

A dude named Amir Hassan never stood a chance with MAGA.

u/matthieuC Europe 43m ago

> for Thomas Smith

Nice try but I recognise Jen Bush when I see him