I’m a American Muslim and I’m Proud to Support Donald Trump | Opinion

In 1780, battling British forces, General Thomas Sumter assigned a scout a dangerous mission. The scout obtained intelligence that enabled Sumter’s surprise attack at Hanging Rock, resulting in victory. This Soldier was Yusuf Ben Ali, known to his contemporaries as Joseph Benenhaley. For his distinguished service, Sumter awarded Ali land.

Ali’s story reflects a legacy of American-Muslims serving in all U.S. wars, from the Revolution to today’s counterterrorism missions. Yet 244 years after Yusuf Ben Ali’s contributions to America’s independence, with roots stemming back to our nation’s founding, American-Muslims still struggle to find our place in America. Why?

It’s certainly not the fault of this great nation or its people. The struggle is internal, the result of a debate within American-Muslim communities over how to interpret our own American story. There are two competing narratives—a victor narrative of triumph and patriotism, and a victim narrative of grievance and oppression. The competing narratives get at the heart of a struggle to define the American-Muslim experience: Do we represent the triumph of American tolerance, diversity, and strength—or of ongoing oppression and marginalization?

These aren’t just narratives; they are competing American Dreams. And this election has put our internal debate on the ballot, with one side telling us we are part of the great American story and the other validating the victim narrative, that we are still oppressed. Vice President Kamala Harris endorses the victim narrative, while former President Donald Trump believes the victor narrative.

Harris is telling us America hates us because of the color of our skin, while Trump is telling us we are like every other American when it comes to our desires on the economy, crime, immigration, education, healthcare, and foreign affairs. Harris treats all Muslims as single-issue voters on Israel when poll after poll shows the top issue for most American-Muslims is the economy, like the rest of Americans; Trump understands that. Harris tells us we will never be equals, and Trump tells us we are already cherished. Harris is telling us to vote for her because of the color of our skin, and Trump is telling us to vote for him because he represents our best interests.

I was told that America hates me because I’m Muslim. Then, in 2018, I became the first American-Muslim GOP nominee for national office in America’s history, winning a competitive six-way Republican primary. In a field that included white, old, wealthy Christian men, why did the so-called “MAGA extremists” and “white supremacists” choose an American-Muslim named Omar Kamal Qudrat?

The lies and slander against conservative voters are designed to inflame our emotions. Conservative voters didn’t choose me for my race, religion, or ethnicity; they chose me based on merit, for my character, beliefs, policies, life choices and record.

The American-Muslim story is one of achievement—higher income and higher education than the general U.S. population; service to our nation with about 6,000 currently in the military and at least 14 killed in action since 9/11; thousands in the intelligence community and law enforcement, with 1,000 cops in the NYPD alone. These facts tell a story of success and service.

These facts make it difficult to claim American-Muslim life is largely negative. Yet, victimhood narrative advocates do just that, framing us as perpetual outsiders, oppressed by America.

Let’s examine the data underpinning claims of Muslim victimhood. In a recent year, the FBI reported 158 American-Muslims were victims of hate crimes—158 too many. Yet with a conservative total estimate of 4 million American-Muslims, 0.00003 percent were victims of hate crimes. Unable to justify the victimhood industry with this statistic, victimhood narrative advocates invent new, ill-defined, categories of oppression metrics, like anti-Muslim “incidents,” to justify their businesses. Even with their inflated numbers, 0.003 percent of American-Muslims encounter “anti-Muslim incidents” annually.

The victim narrative persists despite tenuous evidence. But reality matters little when you can just train people to believe they are victims. The good news is, polls show American-Muslims are breaking from the victim narrative. Across the political spectrum, American-Muslims are waking up, with dissent and debate growing; in 2020, AP exit polls show 36 percent of American-Muslims voted for Trump. These were just those courageous enough to answer truthfully.

This isn’t about just one election—it’s about choosing our American Dream. I choose to stick with the authors of America, embracing the American Dream of freedom, opportunity, prosperity, and service. I dream of a day we reject the lie that America hates us, a narrative that exploits our insecurities and weaponizes our faith to make us perpetual outsiders. The victim narrative was not created by us; that it was imposed on us by external forces.

I dream of a day when fringe yet loud Muslim organizations no longer pit patriotism against being Muslim. I dream of a day when Gulf politics is no longer conflated with Muslim identity, when expressing empathy for Palestinian civilians does not alone render one pro Hamas and waving an Israel flag does not alone render one pro genocide. I support Israel’s existence, believe too many Palestinians have been killed, and believe Hamas should be destroyed.

I dream of a day when no American-Muslim is seduced by extremist ideologies that would turn us against our own nation.

I dream of a day we can proudly embrace being American and Muslim without the fear of being labeled a traitor to either.

From the Revolutionary War to today, American-Muslims have shed blood for this country’s ideals. There is no power in victimhood. Let us not grievance our way to mediocrity.

The time for choosing is now. Let’s turn the page and choose the path of triumph.

Omar Qudrat is an attorney and former U.S. Department of Defense official. He spent 18 months in Afghanistan during the surge, subsequently becoming a counter-terrorism prosecutor. Omar holds the rank of Major in the U.S. Army Reserve. An American-Muslim, Omar is the son of immigrants from Afghanistan. The views expressed here are his and do not reflect the policy or positions of the U.S. Army or Department of Defense. Follow him on X/Twitter @omarqudrat1.