Ex-Trump advisor Michael Flynn visits Hamtramck to engage with Muslims and mayor

Michael Flynn, a retired Army general who once served as former President Donald Trump's national security adviser, is reaching out to Hamtramck Mayor Amer Ghalib and the Muslim community in metro Detroit to form a broad conservative coalition.

Flynn, who pleaded guilty in 2017 to lying to the FBI about conversations he had with Russian officials but later pardoned by Trump, first met with Ghalib last month at Grace Christian Church in Sterling Heights, an evangelical house of worship that hosted an event called "A Celebration of America's Freedom and Future." Ghalib said Flynn asked to meet him during his visit to metro Detroit.

Last week, Flynn and Ghalib met again at Azal Hall in Hamtramck. About 35 attended the Sept. 6 meeting that included some Michigan GOP leaders along with Muslim community and faith leaders, mostly of Yemeni descent from Hamtramck and Dearborn. The two-hour meeting included talks by Ghalib and Flynn, and a question and answer session, according to Ghalib and a video he posted of the event. Flynn spoke often about social issues, expressing concern about what he called pornography, critical race theory, hormone blockers, and transgenderism being taught to children in schools. Flynn also attacked migrant policies at the southern border. Ghalib said he opposed illegal immigration.

"They're going to teach them more pornography, force critical race theory," Flynn alleged about schools and educators.

Bernadette Smith, ethnic vice chair with the Michigan GOP, spoke at the meeting, calling it historic.

"We must focus on those things that unites us and rise above those things that divide us," Smith told the crowd. "I do believe this is a history maker today. And we're going to give our God all the glory and honor right for this meeting tonight. ... We want to continue to build bridges. ... We don't want to see our children mutilated."

Transgender people and their supporters have said this type of rhetoric inaccurately describes gender-affirming care.

In Hamtramck, Dearborn and other cities across Michigan, there has been backlash over the past year against LGBTQ+ curriculum, books and flags. In heavily Muslim precincts in Dearborn and Hamtramck, Republicans made some gains in the November election compared with previous elections, a point that Khalil Othman of Dearborn, a Republican supporter, made to Flynn during the Hamtramck meeting. Hamtramck and Dearborn have the highest percentages of Muslim residents among cities in Michigan.

More: GOP made gains in east Dearborn after protests over LGBTQ books

Flynn repeatedly praised Ghalib and placed his arm around his shoulder at one point, remarking on his youth.

"He's a young guy ... this is the future," Flynn said of Ghalib, 43. "I saw something in this young man. And I said, 'Wow, this guy's really sharp, this guy, he's a leader.' ... He's the type of person that he really is thinking, not just locally about what Hamtramck needs, he's also got a ... strategic view of what is going on in the country."

Some of Flynn's remarks during the earlier Aug. 4 Sterling Heights event that referenced the Holocaust drew criticism from some Jewish groups that said Flynn suggested Jews were to blame for dying at Auschwitz, according to media reports.

Flynn, once a three-star lieutenant general active during the war on terrorism, has also been criticized by some Muslim groups for statements he made about Islam, once comparing it to cancer, according to ABC News and other media reports.

Ghalib, who did not return an email seeking comment, said on Facebook after first meeting Flynn at the Sterling Heights event: "We had a constructive dialogue, where I made it clear that any hate speech against Muslims isn’t appreciated or accepted، and whoever supports that will lose the support of the American Muslims."

Since then, "we kept in touch," Ghalib said of Flynn at the Sept. 6 meeting in Hamtramck. "And this is the fruit of our communication: He decided to visit our city. And we expect more visits and the stronger relationships between us. And the more we get to know about each other, the more united we get."

Flynn said during the Hamtramck meeting that during his military career, he fought to protect Muslims from extremist Muslims.

Ghalib and Hamtramck's City Council received national attention earlier this year for banning the display of LGBTQ+ pride flags on city property and then ousting commissioners who defied the new law by raising a pride flag on a city flagpole. City officials drew criticism from some Democratic leaders, but former GOP nominee for governor Tudor Dixon praised Ghalib, speaking with him on her podcast. The Michigan GOP has increased the diversity of its leadership: Half of its six vice chairs are now Arab American Muslim.

Tensions have flared again over the past month, with Ghalib and former Hamtramck Mayor Karen Majewski accusing each other of being bigots. The ACLU Michigan sent a letter last week to the city protesting the city council's decision last month to limit the number of speakers who can comment during meetings; some LGBTQ advocates are planning to protest at Tuesday night's council meeting, said an advocate.

Majewski criticized Ghalib engaging with Flynn.

"Here is a first in Hamtramck history," Majewski wrote on Facebook. "The mayor of our city hanging out with a genuine traitor to his country, Mike Flynn. Unless his country is actually Russia, in which case he's a valued operative. SHAMEFUL."

Ghalib called the Hamtramck meeting a success, writing: "The meeting was transparent and fruitful, which focused on values and shared interests and the need to change the speeches of hostile party leaders against the Muslim American community, and that this move follows concrete steps to build trust that could lead to joint cooperation in what serves a community interest, enhance its presence and defend its rights, freedoms and privacy."

Also attending the meeting with Flynn were Hamtramck City Councilmen Khalil Refai and Mohammed Alsomiri; Yemerican PAC President Luqman Saleh; a senior cleric with Masjid Muath Bin Jabel, a Detroit mosque bordering Hamtramck also known as Iman Islamic Complex; and Nagi Almudhegi, a Dearborn resident concerned about explicit books in public schools.

Ghalib said they invited a limited number of people to the Hamtramck meeting and avoided those who may be Democrats in order to avoid embarrassment.

"We apologize to those we could not invite because the number required for the meeting was very limited according to the wishes of the guests, and we made it as diverse as possible," Ghalib said on Facebook. Ghalib added he wanted to "avoid inviting those who are ... ideologically associated with the other party, and maintain good relationships with them without causing them or us any embarrassment."

Flynn's outreach is the latest example of how some conservatives have changed their views of Muslims. On Sunday, Tucker Carlson, a conservative political commentator who was fired from Fox News earlier this year, visited Utica in Macomb County, saying at one point that he was more supportive of observant Muslims than Episcopal Church leaders, whom he called pagans.

Carlson, who grew up Episcopalian, said "the Episcopal Church ... is basically just total wicked now, just pure paganism."

He then said he respected Muslims who pray five times a day.

"There are certainly parts of Islam that ... I'm still mad about, the 9/11 anniversary is tomorrow, but on the other hand ... any people who have to pause five times a day to be reminded that they're not God, those aren't my enemies, necessarily," he said Sunday in a speech livestreamed by The Midwesterner.

The Hamtramck meeting with Flynn came after tensions during the Labor Day Festival the week before. Ghalib had expressed concern about marching in front of a LGBTQ banner, reported the Hamtramck Review. The day before the parade, Sept. 3, punk band The Dead Milkmen performed to a large crowd at the Hamtramck festival songs like "Rightwing Pigeon" and "Tiny Town" that poke fun at conservatives.

A few minutes later, the Islamic call to prayer could be heard broadcasting from a nearby mosque as the band played on stage at the corner of Jos. Campau Avenue and Caniff Street.

"I want to send out some love to all my brothers and sisters who are Polish," lead singer Rodney Linderman said to the crowd during an interlude of the band's 1985 song, "Bitchin' Camaro."

"Now I want to send out a little love to all my Muslim brothers and sisters."

Linderman then explained how in his neighborhood in Philadelphia, he has Catholic and Muslim neighbors who shovel the walks during winter, taking care of others. He said Detroit and Michigan reminds him of Philadelphia.

"Everybody is getting along and nobody gives a damn about what anybody else's religion, sexuality, gender, none of that," he said. Mentioning Michigan's official motto — "If you seek a pleasant peninsula, look about you" — Linderman added: "When it snows, get up early and no matter what your neighbor is ... a Muslim, a Jew, Christian, a Hindu, and there's a lot of Hindus ... shovel their walks."

The Associated Press contributed to this report. Contact Niraj Warikoo: nwarikoo@freepress.com, Facebook.com/nwarikoo, Twitter @nwarikoo.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Former Trump aide Michael Flynn speaks to Muslims in Hamtramck