We speak with Dr. Ahmed Ghanim, a prominent Muslim leader and former Democratic candidate for Congress, after the Kamala Harris campaign apologized for kicking him out of a Detroit election event Monday to which he was invited. Harris’s staunch support for Israel as it continues its brutal war on Gaza has infuriated many Muslim and Arab voters in Michigan, and while Ghanim says it’s a very important issue to him, he was not there to protest. He was also not given a reason for his removal, even after the campaign called him to apologize. “Apology without accountability is not an apology,” he says, adding that the incident has left him questioning whether Democrats still believe in diversity and inclusion or if “Muslims and Arabs don’t have room anymore in this party.”
This is super weird. I went to a Harris rally in Madison, WI, and what he said about “only your wallet” was essentially true. Wallet, phone. If you had a bag of any kind, any size, they were searching it.
But there were most definitely different entrances for general admission (me) and “invited guests” who got some sort of special treatment. Different seating at least, some behind the speaker’s podium for sure. My gut tells me that if he was invited, especially having been a Democratic candidate for Congress, he would have had that “invited guest” status - and would have been in a special seating area, one which would surely indicate that he wasn’t going to be a protester … or whatever they thought he would do.
This is super weird. I went to a Harris rally in Madison, WI, and what he said about “only your wallet” was essentially true. Wallet, phone. If you had a bag of any kind, any size, they were searching it.
But there were most definitely different entrances for general admission (me) and “invited guests” who got some sort of special treatment. Different seating at least, some behind the speaker’s podium for sure. My gut tells me that if he was invited, especially having been a Democratic candidate for Congress, he would have had that “invited guest” status - and would have been in a special seating area, one which would surely indicate that he wasn’t going to be a protester … or whatever they thought he would do.