Amer Ghalib’s Nomination Is Not Going Well 

Amer Ghalib is the former mayor of Hamtramck, Michigan, whom Donald Trump believes turned out the Muslim vote for him in the state, and out of gratitude decided to nominate him to be ambassador to Kuwait. Yet Ghalib, a Yemeni-American, has a lot of baggage. During his mayoralty, his administration was wracked with scandal. On social media, he has mocked or denounced Jews, black people, and homosexuals. He has praised Saddam Hussein, who invaded Kuwait and executed many Kuwaitis, as a “martyr.” More on his first day of a Senate confirmation hearing can be found here: “Hamtramck mayor’s nomination by Trump in trouble after fiery hearing, antisemitic claims,” by Todd Spangler, Detroit Free Press, October 23, 2025:

The nomination of Hamtramck Mayor Amer Ghalib to be President Donald Trump’s ambassador to Kuwait is on some seriously shaky ground.

At a confirmation hearing on Ghalib’s nomination on Thursday, Oct. 23rd before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, senators from both parties repeatedly peppered him with questions about actions they said included his liking a social media post comparing Jewish people to monkeys, his comments calling Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein a “martyr” and his apparently declining to publicly denounce a city appointee’s comment that the Holocaust was “God’s advance punishment” for Israel’s actions in Gaza following the attacks by Hamas of Oct. 7, 2023….

Throughout the hearing, Ghalib − a Muslim who immigrated from Yemen as a teenager and was elected mayor of Hamtramck in 2021 − tried to defend himself, saying that many of the questions were about social media posts from when he was a private citizen and were either taken out of context or weren’t intended as a show of support.

For instance, he said his comment about Hussein − whom he called a dictator − being a martyr was made in anger over the U.S. not retaliating strongly enough against an Iranian attack on a base in 2020 and that Hussein, who invaded Kuwait, kept Iranian aggression in check. He also argued that, as mayor, his support for a resolution denouncing antisemitism was significant, even though, in another exchange, he said he had nothing to do with a move endorsing divestment from Israel, making Hamtramck one of the first cities to do so….

Of course, as Mayor of Hamtramck Ghalib insists he had nothing to do with the city endorsing BDS. It just sort of passed, while he apparently was out of the office, or just not paying attention, or something. Don’t blame him; he was just the mayor.

“Judge my actions and not my intentions,” Ghalib said at one point, while repeatedly claiming he is not antisemitic and that he treats “everybody with respect.” He also said he disagreed with many of the points of view he previously appeared on social media to be endorsing, including whether the Muslim Brotherhood − which Cruz has proposed listing as a foreign terrorist organization − was an “inspiration.”

He’s changed his mind. He’s cleaned up his act. He’s seen the error of his ways and no longer endorses the Muslim Brotherhood as an “inspiration.” Please believe him. He wouldn’t lie to Senators. And if there are any posts or re-posts by him on social media, if they sound nasty about Jews, or blacks, or homosexuals, its only because they have been “mistranslated” from the Arabic.

It only takes one other Republican — Texas Senator Ted Cruz has already said he won’t vote to confirm him — to oppose Ghalib’s nomination, and he’s done for. A number of alternative career paths are still open to him. He could go back to Hamtramck, the most Arab city in the country, run again for mayor, and after his win, stack city hall with Muslim employees. Or Amer Ghalib could join the administration of Zohran Mamdani, perhaps as director of personnel for the City of New York, making sure that Muslims are hired by the thousands for municipal jobs. Or he could become a reporter for Al Jazeera, where he can truly be himself, no longer needing to worry about how the Infidels view him. Don’t worry about Amer Ghalib. Such people always land on their feet.