President Donald Trump’s nominee for Kuwait ambassador lacks the support to be confirmed over what Republicans say is a history of antisemitism and sympathy toward U.S.-designated terrorist groups.
Amer Ghalib, the first Muslim-American mayor of Hamtramck, Michigan, faced bipartisan backlash last week during his confirmation hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Enough GOP senators oppose his nomination to sink it.
“That’s going to be hard to overcome in terms of even … getting that nomination to the floor,” Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso (R-WY), a member of Foreign Relations, told the Washington Examiner Tuesday.
The White House did not respond to the Washington Examiner’s request for comment.
Sen. Dave McCormick (R-PA) became the latest Foreign Relations panel member on Tuesday to come out against Ghalib, joining Sens. John Curtis (R-UT), John Cornyn (R-TX), and Ted Cruz (R-TX).
“He doesn’t support the president’s policies on Israel,” McCormick, a Gulf War veteran, told the Washington Examiner. “He called Saddam Hussein a martyr and was very complimentary. I think he just showed himself not to be qualified.”
Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), another committee member, said he was still considering Ghalib’s nomination.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) said he was “vaguely familiar” with Ghalib’s controversies but had not yet “examined” them closely.
Ghalib’s endorsement of Trump in the 2024 election helped the then-candidate siphon crucial support from Michigan’s Muslim community away from former Vice President Kamala Harris, aiding in Trump’s victory in the battleground state.
MUSLIM MAYOR IN MICHIGAN ENDORSES TRUMP AFTER PRIVATE MEETING
But the Yemeni-American has come under fire for a series of eyebrow-raising positions, including that Hamas was justified in its 2023 attack on Israel and that Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein was a “martyr.” Ghalib also faced scrutiny for a social media post comparing Jewish people to monkeys that he apparently “liked.”
During his confirmation hearing, Ghalib downplayed his social media activity and said his comment about Hussein was made in a “moment of anger” following Iranian attacks in 2020 on U.S. bases in Iraq.
CORRECTION: A previous version of this story referred to Ghalib as the former mayor of Hamtramck, Michigan. He is still serving as mayor.
