Trump's Assyrian slip-up sparks interest in ancient community

At a rally couple years back Donald Trump made a funny slip-up saying “Asur-Asians“ instead of Assyrians. This mistake (which he later fixed) brought spotlight to a small but important group.

Assyrians are Christians with roots in old Mesopotamia. Theyʼre not many in US but have big groups in Michigan and Arizona – states that could decide who wins on Nov 5. “Thank you‚ President Trump‚ for making a mistake in our name‚“ said Sam Darmo‚ an Assyrian supporter. “More Americans know who the Assyrians are today than they did back on Sunday“

Assyrians come from parts of Iraq‚ Iran‚ Syria and Turkey. Theyʼve run from bad treatment in their old homes‚ most recently from ISIS. Thereʼs about 95‚000 Assyrians in US (as of 2022)‚ with most in Michigan (38‚000) and some in Arizona (5‚000)

Assyrians want people to know about bad things done to them long ago. They try to get governments to say the killings of Assyrians Armenians and Greeks in 1915 was genocide. Turkey says no to this

We want the Americans to know who we are‚ and how much we suffered‚ and how many massacres‚ genocides have been committed against our people in the Middle East

Mona Oshana‚ who helped start Assyrians for Trump said: “We are an America First community because we came to America based on the echo of freedom and the Constitution“

But some Assyrians dont like Trumps rules that made it hard for refugees to come to US. A sad story is about Jimmy Al-Daoud‚ who lived in US since he was a baby but was sent back to Iraq where he died

Both sides want Assyrian votes. Republicans sent Eric Trump to talk to them 4 years ago. Democrats have a group called Chaldeans and Assyrians for Harris Walz. With the election coming up soon‚ both sides are trying hard to get support from this old but important group