President Donald Trump, who as a candidate threatened to ban Muslims from the U.S., followed through as president with a travel order that kept residents of several Muslim-majority countries out of the United States. Hes aligned with notorious Islamophobes and has attacked the first two Muslim women in Congress.

Some Muslims are voting for his reelection anyway.

Although Muslims are the least likely faith group in the U.S. to support Trump in the 2020 election, the number of Muslim Americans who support him is rising, according to a report by the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding released in October. Support for Trump among Muslim Americans climbed from 4% in 2016 to 14% this year, the survey found.

HuffPost spoke to 10 American Muslims across the country about why they back Trump. Several said they liked his stance on foreign policy. Some said they support Trumps stances on abortion and health care. A few others credited Trump for improving the job market. While several said they didnt like it when the president has indulged in xenophobia, they are willing to overlook it because of his other positive attributes.

Some [Muslims] will say, Youve betrayed Islam and Youve betrayed the entire community, Yahay Obeid, a 37-year-old in New York, told HuffPost. You voted for Trump. Hows that fair? How is that a correct statement? Are we not in a democracy? Can you not vote for whoever you want?

Obeid, who voted for Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election and for Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) in 2018, said he was put off by Trumps rhetoric against Muslims and refugees during the first campaign, and even some of his actions as president, such as suspending the entry of refugees from Yemen, where Obeid and his family are from, and other countries. Obeid said he was willing to overlook them.

If you look at the overall picture, right, I like 75% of what Trump does and I hate 25% of what he does, Obeid told HuffPost. I like to see things in moderation. Everything in moderation. And if voting for AOC and Trump, were going to find the middle ground there, then, let it be, he said.

Hes Actually Delivered

Tamer Elmenayer, a 43-year-old technology manager in Texas, said he didnt vote in 2016, predominately because he felt that neither party represented my ideals or needs as a Muslim American, he said.

During the 2020 Democratic primary, he was captivated by then-presidential candidate Bernie Sanders. He particularly liked Sanders Medicare for All health care plan and that the Vermont senator called out economic inequality. Elmenayer even donated to Sanders campaign.

But after Sanders lost the nomination, Elmenayer was unconvinced by former Vice President Joe Biden and particularly frustrated by how the other Democrats treated Sanders. So he began to look across party lines. And he wound up impressed by Trump, including the fact that he left the coronavirus pandemic response largely to the states rather than using it to expand his presidential powers through nationwide mandates.

I try not to look at things on a partisan line, I try to look at things issue by issue, said Elmenayer. Trump was a different voice. He actually had his own voice. He appeared to be independent of the political machine and I felt that he was actually taking steps for America.

Najib Abdul-Haqq, 58, a two-time Trump voter and a two-time President Barack Obama voter, said Obama and the Democratic party failed him as a Black American Muslim. When Trump asked Black voters what they had to lose by supporting him in 2016, Abdul-Haqq found himself unable to provide an answer. Today, Abdul-Haqq said hes more content with Trump than he was with Obama.

Hes actually delivered in terms of his presidency, Abdul-Haqq said. Prison reform, his funding of the historically Black colleges and universities, and deregulation on taxes. I was with him on strong border regulations because Black labor is the first to get hurt by illegal immigration into this country.

Trump has repeatedly claimed to be better for Black Americans than past presidents. Earlier this year, he claimed he saved historically Black colleges and universities, although funding passed under Obama as well. Research has found that the idea that undocumented workers are taking away jobs from people of color is based on half-truths and fails to mention the overall net wealth brought in by immigration.

Although experts have found that many of Trumps policies and rhetoric have actively harmed Black Americans, Abdul-Haqq said he doesnt find Trump to be any more racist than any other president that has preceded to include President Obama. As for 2020, Abdul-Haqq said he might have voted for Biden if he were running against any other Republican who wasnt Trump.

Ahmed Elzaree, a 51-year-old imam based in Maryland, said too often Democrats pander to Muslims for their vote but take no meaningful action to support their communities.

Elzaree is a longtime Republican and has voted for Donald Trump twice. Elzaree said Trump had his shortcomings like any other human being but, overall, he couldnt be happier with the country under the president.

I believe that all American presidents play with the emotions of Muslims, and none of them at all care for Muslims, Elzaree said. I dont think Joe Biden cares for Muslims more than Trump. Biden is trying to manipulate the Muslims by just saying things in Arabic or quoting the religion or something like that, but he is not better than Trump. And the same thing goes for Obama and Clinton and George Bush.

Aligning With Republican Values

Some Muslim Trump voters said they back the president because they are more aligned with Republicans on issues such as abortion and same-sex marriage.

A registered Democrat until 2011, 35-year-old Saba Ahmed said she began to feel that her religious values, including her opposition to abortion, began to conflict with the partys platform. She was hesitant about affiliating with the GOP because the party often propagates disinformation about American Muslims, but she felt like it was the right thing to do. In 2016, she founded the Republican Muslim Coalition in Texas.

As hard as it was becoming Republican and kind of trying to make a place in the Republican party as a Muslim American, I still felt that at least I didnt have to have a conflict with my faith, so that really drove me to it, Ahmed said.