If Vice President Kamala Harris picks Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro as her running mate, Muslim voters in battleground states will be shunned, according to Rep. Bill Huizenga, R-Mich., on Newsmax.
"Where I think it gets very interesting, and this is where her VP pick absolutely figures into this, [is] Michigan is home to the largest Arab American population outside the Middle East, but we are also home to the sixth largest Jewish population of any state," Huizenga told Monday's "Wake Up America." "If it's Gov. Shapiro, who is an observant Jew, who believes that the pro-Hamas demonstrations on college campuses aren't right and believes that Israel needs to defend itself, that could cause some significant problems within that other portion of their voting base.
"We had [Rep.] Rashida Tlaib [D-Mich.] here in Michigan leading a charge to vote against [President] Joe Biden in the Michigan primary and having someone like Shapiro on that ticket is going to do nothing but cement that sentiment in my mind," he said. "So, I think it becomes very dicey."
If Shapiro is chosen as Harris' vice presidential candidate, "it probably locks up Pennsylvania, but probably puts Michigan in [former President] Donald Trump's column," Huizenga said.
The Michigan congressman also mentioned Rep. Tim Walz, D-Minn., who is another Harris vice president contender, and how his selection could impact election results in Wisconsin or Minnesota.
"I think this might be an election where the VP pick could actually influence and affect, not just their home state, but a couple of other states," he said.
According to a recent Morning Consult/Bloomberg poll, Harris has an 11-point lead over Republican rival Donald Trump in Michigan. Huizenga said he's not buying it.
"That seems an exaggeration," he said. "Again, I think that is coming off of that switch-over and that high that they had."
What is happening, however, he said, is the Democratic Party "is being fragmented."
"We have union votes that have gone to Donald Trump and are going to stay in Donald Trump's column," he said. "I see Kamala Harris, or whoever her VP pick [is], not pulling those people away.
"Where I do think she helps is in the African American community, especially African American women, but we've got a growing divide among African Americans, with African American men saying, You know, actually, the economy was better for me; it actually did help us out here in Michigan and in a lot of other places, and that guy that was at the helm was Donald Trump."
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Nicole Wells ✉
Nicole Wells, a Newsmax general assignment reporter covers news, politics, and culture. She is a National Newspaper Association award-winning journalist.
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