Dearborn mayor will not apologize after telling minister he wasn't 'welcome right here''

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At Dearborn, Michigan’s first metropolis council assembly since his conflict with a local Christian minister went viral after a heated trade over a controversial honorary road signal naming, Mayor Abdullah Hammoud declined to apologize for his saying the minister was "not welcome right here" and that he would "launch a parade" when he left city.

Ted Barham, the identical Christian minister, opened his remarks at Tuesday's meeting by repeating the phrases that went viral on the earlier one on Sept. 9.

"The mayor, in a method, cursed me, as was seen world wide. And I want to repeat what I stated that day to you, Mr. Mayor: ‘God bless you,’" Barham stated.

Barham stated he had no plans to file a lawsuit regardless of stress from supporters.

EXCLUSIVE: MAN WHO SPARRED WITH MUSLIM DEARBORN MAYOR, TOLD HE WASN'T 'WELCOME' REVEALED AS CHRISTIAN MINISTER

<source media="(max-width: 767px)" srcset="https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2025/09/343/192/dearborn-mayor-does-not-apologize-in-official-remarks-after-viral-clash-with-christian-minister-1.jpg?ve=1&tl=1, https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2025/09/686/384/dearborn-mayor-does-not-apologize-in-official-remarks-after-viral-clash-with-christian-minister-1.jpg?ve=1&tl=1 2x" height="192" width="343"><source media="(min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1023px)" srcset="https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2025/09/672/378/dearborn-mayor-does-not-apologize-in-official-remarks-after-viral-clash-with-christian-minister-1.jpg?ve=1&tl=1, https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2025/09/1344/756/dearborn-mayor-does-not-apologize-in-official-remarks-after-viral-clash-with-christian-minister-1.jpg?ve=1&tl=1 2x" height="378" width="672"><source media="(min-width: 1024px) and (max-width: 1279px)" srcset="https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2025/09/931/523/dearborn-mayor-does-not-apologize-in-official-remarks-after-viral-clash-with-christian-minister-1.jpg?ve=1&tl=1, https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2025/09/1862/1046/dearborn-mayor-does-not-apologize-in-official-remarks-after-viral-clash-with-christian-minister-1.jpg?ve=1&tl=1 2x" height="523" width="931"><source media="(min-width: 1280px)" srcset="https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2025/09/720/405/dearborn-mayor-does-not-apologize-in-official-remarks-after-viral-clash-with-christian-minister-1.jpg?ve=1&tl=1, https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2025/09/1440/810/dearborn-mayor-does-not-apologize-in-official-remarks-after-viral-clash-with-christian-minister-1.jpg?ve=1&tl=1 2x" height="405" width="720"> Ted Barham, a Christian minister, speaks through the Dearborn Metropolis Council assembly Tuesday, weeks after his conflict with Mayor Abdullah Hammoud drew nationwide consideration. (Metropolis of Dearborn)

"Folks have been saying I ought to try this all around the world. I've no intention of doing that," Barham stated.

As an alternative, he urged the council to contemplate his bigger message: "Bless those that curse you… love your haters. And I might say that in regard to Hezbollah as effectively. I might [say] that in regard to Mr. Siblani and I might [say] to Israel, too . ‘Love your haters.’"

He then made a brand new enchantment.

"Would it not be attainable for you, Mayor Hammoud, in entrance of the world and council members to hitch me in saying we want to put out a Christian name to prayer and a Christian name to religion in all of the nations world wide where an Islamic name to prayer goes out?"

Others took the microphone to press the council extra instantly.

DEARBORN’S MUSLIM MAYOR TELLS CHRISTIAN HE’S ‘NOT WELCOME’ IN DEBATE ON HONORING PRO-TERROR ARAB LEADER

<source media="(max-width: 767px)" srcset="https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2025/09/343/192/dearborn-mayor-does-not-apologize-in-official-remarks-after-viral-clash-with-christian-minister-2.jpg?ve=1&tl=1, https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2025/09/686/384/dearborn-mayor-does-not-apologize-in-official-remarks-after-viral-clash-with-christian-minister-2.jpg?ve=1&tl=1 2x" height="192" width="343"><source media="(min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1023px)" srcset="https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2025/09/672/378/dearborn-mayor-does-not-apologize-in-official-remarks-after-viral-clash-with-christian-minister-2.jpg?ve=1&tl=1, https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2025/09/1344/756/dearborn-mayor-does-not-apologize-in-official-remarks-after-viral-clash-with-christian-minister-2.jpg?ve=1&tl=1 2x" height="378" width="672"><source media="(min-width: 1024px) and (max-width: 1279px)" srcset="https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2025/09/931/523/dearborn-mayor-does-not-apologize-in-official-remarks-after-viral-clash-with-christian-minister-2.jpg?ve=1&tl=1, https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2025/09/1862/1046/dearborn-mayor-does-not-apologize-in-official-remarks-after-viral-clash-with-christian-minister-2.jpg?ve=1&tl=1 2x" height="523" width="931"><source media="(min-width: 1280px)" srcset="https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2025/09/720/405/dearborn-mayor-does-not-apologize-in-official-remarks-after-viral-clash-with-christian-minister-2.jpg?ve=1&tl=1, https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2025/09/1440/810/dearborn-mayor-does-not-apologize-in-official-remarks-after-viral-clash-with-christian-minister-2.jpg?ve=1&tl=1 2x" height="405" width="720"> Ted Barham, a Christian minister, makes some extent whereas addressing the Dearborn Metropolis Council in Michigan on Tuesday. (Metropolis of Dearborn)

Anthony Deegan advised the chamber, "We love you with the love of Christ. We would like the blessings of God to be in your life… it’s not a matter of us versus them." However he then requested pointedly: "Do you definitively, unequivocally, by identify, denounce Hamas and Hezbollah? Or do you assist them?"

Shane Rife of Backyard Metropolis stated he was "shocked" to be taught that Hammoud had appeared at a rally the place Arab American Information writer Osama Siblani praised Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah as a "hero."

"Now we have a mayor in the USA who's sharing a platform with any person, with [a] terrorist!?" Rife requested. "The place is your allegiance? Is your allegiance to the USA or is your allegiance to Hezbollah?"

Pastor Jeff Davis of Dearborn Evangelical Covenant Church additionally voiced assist for Barham, stressing his lengthy service within the metropolis.

WHITMER SILENT ON MUSLIM MAYOR TELLING RESIDENT HE’S ‘NOT WELCOME’ FOR SLAM ON TERRORIST SYMPATHIZER

<source media="(max-width: 767px)" srcset="https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2025/09/343/192/dearborn-mayor-does-not-apologize-in-official-remarks-after-viral-clash-with-christian-minister.jpg?ve=1&tl=1, https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2025/09/686/384/dearborn-mayor-does-not-apologize-in-official-remarks-after-viral-clash-with-christian-minister.jpg?ve=1&tl=1 2x" height="192" width="343"><source media="(min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1023px)" srcset="https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2025/09/672/378/dearborn-mayor-does-not-apologize-in-official-remarks-after-viral-clash-with-christian-minister.jpg?ve=1&tl=1, https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2025/09/1344/756/dearborn-mayor-does-not-apologize-in-official-remarks-after-viral-clash-with-christian-minister.jpg?ve=1&tl=1 2x" height="378" width="672"><source media="(min-width: 1024px) and (max-width: 1279px)" srcset="https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2025/09/931/523/dearborn-mayor-does-not-apologize-in-official-remarks-after-viral-clash-with-christian-minister.jpg?ve=1&tl=1, https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2025/09/1862/1046/dearborn-mayor-does-not-apologize-in-official-remarks-after-viral-clash-with-christian-minister.jpg?ve=1&tl=1 2x" height="523" width="931"><source media="(min-width: 1280px)" srcset="https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2025/09/720/405/dearborn-mayor-does-not-apologize-in-official-remarks-after-viral-clash-with-christian-minister.jpg?ve=1&tl=1, https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2025/09/1440/810/dearborn-mayor-does-not-apologize-in-official-remarks-after-viral-clash-with-christian-minister.jpg?ve=1&tl=1 2x" height="405" width="720"> Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud listens throughout Tuesday's Metropolis Council assembly, the place he declined to apologize for remarks that drew nationwide scrutiny. (Metropolis of Dearborn)

Nagi Almudhegi, a Yemeni-American engineer and candidate for mayor, additionally weighed in throughout an interview with Fox Information Digital.

"The USA of America is constructed on the ideas of freedom of speech and freedom of faith. These two ideas are sacrosanct," Almudhegi stated. "If I have been in Mayor Abdullah Hamoud’s spot at the moment, I might haven't stated something. The gentleman has a proper, as an American citizen, to talk his thoughts. And he did it in a respectful, calm method. The mayor ought to have afforded him that chance as an alternative of launching into that tirade."

He warned that Hammoud’s "not welcome right here" comment risked fueling a misunderstanding that Christians aren't accepted in Dearborn.

"Folks would get the impression, or it could feed into the paranoia that may be very, very fallacious, that Dearborn is a racist place, or there’s no place for Christians. And that's what I’m 100% towards," Almudhegi stated.

Almudhegi had beforehand launched an official assertion condemning Hammoud’s remarks as "uncalled for, classless, unprofessional and simply plain fallacious," and voiced assist for Barham.

Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud speaks throughout a Metropolis Council assembly in Dearborn, Mich., on Sept. 9. (Metropolis of Dearborn)

When Hammoud spoke later within the night on the assembly, he didn't reply the various requires an apology or the demand for a particular denunciation. As an alternative, he stated, Dearborn "represents one of the best of America" the place "folks of all backgrounds, of all faiths, and of all beliefs can stay peacefully and respectfully as neighbors."

"For many years, folks have been intent on dividing and disparaging our metropolis," Hammoud stated. "Dearborn has by no means fallen for these divisive makes an attempt. Again then and nonetheless now, Dearborn residents from each nook of this metropolis have come collectively to shun hatred and to root it out of the place that we’re all proud to name residence."

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The controversy continues to loom over Dearborn’s November mayoral election, the place Hammoud faces Almudhegi.

With solely two names on the poll, the conflict over spiritual freedom and free speech sparked by Barham’s remarks and the mayor’s response could change into the defining difficulty for voters.