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Top Michigan Democrats have been pressuring Biden for months to spend more time campaigning in the state, but officials say Biden’s visit was overshadowed by protesters. I am concerned that the program may be suspended or interrupted. On Thursday, Biden officials took steps to make his visit more secretive than usual. They did not publicize the location of his event, and the president’s motorcade used side streets to avoid protesters.
However, this visit was not completely without conflict. During Biden’s political rally at a restaurant, a group of demonstrators chanted things like “Shame on you,” “Massacre Joe,” and “How many children did you kill today?” The last phrase was the same chant directed at President Lyndon B. Johnson during the Vietnam War.
Biden strongly supports Israel as it launches a military operation against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, which has killed more than 26,000 Palestinians. The Israeli operation began after an October 7 attack by Hamas that saw militants pour out of the Gaza Strip, killing more than 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and taking another 253 hostages.
Michigan has the largest Arab-American and Muslim population in the nation, with about 300,000 people claiming ancestry from the Middle East or North Africa, but the war in Gaza has devastated the community. Leaders and residents say many resent the president for what they see as his unwavering support for Israel and lack of empathy for Palestinians. Some Arabs and Muslims in Michigan have launched a “Forget Biden” campaign as part of a broader national effort to encourage local residents not to vote for Biden.
The Biden campaign did not respond to questions about why the president did not engage with Arab-American or Muslim community members during Thursday’s trip.
“President Biden today met with some of the 130,000 Michigan union workers who supported him last week, calling on Donald Trump to close factories, move jobs overseas and hand over supermarkets. “We are committed to continuing to fight America’s historic anti-worker policies – a bounty of tax dollars,” Biden campaign spokeswoman Lauren Hitt said in a statement. “The president’s fight to raise wages and lower costs for the middle class is at the heart of this election.”
He added, “Voters can expect the president to visit Michigan multiple times between now and Election Day, and we look forward to reaching voters across the state.”
Still, the trip highlighted Biden’s dilemma regarding Michigan. The state is a critical battleground state for his re-election hopes, and he needs to visit regularly to reach voters and win electoral votes. But anger among the Arab community means each visit is likely to be accompanied by protests and demonstrations.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters Thursday that senior Biden officials visited Michigan this month and “heard from regional leaders on a variety of issues important to them and their families, including the Israeli conflict.” I’ll hear directly from them,” he said. And Gaza. ” He did not say which officials would visit the state and when.
Last week, Julie Chavez Rodriguez, Biden’s campaign manager, traveled to Michigan and was scheduled to meet with Arab American elected officials and community leaders. But some officials refused to meet with her, citing Biden’s resistance to calls for a ceasefire in Gaza.
Without Michigan’s 15 votes, there is little chance of reelection. Democrats are increasingly worried that the Middle East conflict could jeopardize Biden’s electoral path in the region. His stance makes him unpopular not only with Arab Americans and Muslims, but also with many young voters and people of color.
Even before the conflict, Michigan Democrats had called for Biden to spend more time in crisis situations, and the White House said Biden would revisit Pennsylvania, which he visits far more than any other state. When it was announced, some Democrats rolled their eyes. Any country other than his home state of Delaware.
On Thursday, Biden celebrated the strong support he has long sought from workers, often recalling the critical support unions gave him during his first Senate campaign in 1972. Since announcing his reelection campaign in April, Biden has received more than a dozen endorsements. Labor unions also turned out in large numbers, including the AFL-CIO, the nation’s largest labor union, and many expressed support for him earlier than usual in a presidential election cycle.
“Wall Street didn’t build the middle class,” Biden said during a visit to a UAW union hall where workers were volunteering at a phone bank ahead of Michigan’s Democratic primary later this month. He spoke at the time. “Workers built the middle class. And the middle class built the country.”
The campaign said Biden also had “dinner table conversations” with some union members about how his policies would impact their lives.
“We will fight tooth and nail to ensure Joe Biden is our next president,” UAW President Sean Fein said. The union formally endorsed Biden last month.
Biden’s visit to Michigan is also part of a campaign between him and former President Donald Trump, with each trying to portray themselves as better friends to working Americans. Mr. Biden took the unusual step of joining the UAW picket line last September, and Mr. Trump recently met with leaders of the Teamsters union.
Biden wins Michigan by more than 150,000 votes After Donald Trump won the state by less than 11,000 votes in 2016, his vote count declined in 2020. Democrats and Republicans in the state expect the margin to be close again this year, and Biden will likely need a high turnout from Black and Arab American voters to win Michigan.
Last month, a Detroit News/WDIV-TV poll showed Mr. Biden trailing Mr. Trump by 8 points in Michigan, with only a minority of likely voters saying Mr. Biden deserves a second term. It was 17%. A poll conducted by The New York Times and Siena in late October found that 22% of black voters in six battleground states, including Michigan, said they would support Mr. Trump if the general election were held today. Four years ago, Trump won just 8% of black voters nationwide.
Former Michigan Governor James Blanchard (Democratic) said he was confident that Biden would win Michigan again, citing Biden’s record, the strength of the state’s Democratic Party organization, and the UAW’s early support.
Blanchard added that she thought Biden was right not to focus on the Arab American community during this trip.
“The issue is very emotional at the moment and half of them don’t want to see him anyway,” he said, adding: Most importantly, he is committed to solving the serious challenges of the Middle East. We’re lucky to have him. Imagine what would have happened if it had been Donald Trump. ”
Before meeting with union members, Mr. Biden stopped by They Say, a black-owned restaurant in Harper Woods, where he patrolled the bar and tables, smiling for selfies and chatting with patrons.
Taylor Harrell was sitting at the bar eating chicken Alfredo when she saw a black SUV pull into the restaurant’s parking lot. She thought this was a sting operation until she was informed that the President of the United States was visiting. Harrell, 30, voted for Biden in 2020 and plans to vote again in November.
“People are looking for something to be wrong. There are things that need to be improved, but the situation is not as bad as it was under President Trump,” she said.
Across the street from the restaurant, Chanel Gardner, 33, was videotaping the president’s every move. Her Biden vote cited the president’s support for last fall’s auto workers strike. Many of her family and friends work for Chrysler’s parent company, Stellantis, and she said she got the raise after the UAW struck a new deal with the automaker with support from Biden.
“It was a very big event that involved the president,” Gardner said.
Yasmeen Abutaleb and Emily Gaskin in Washington contributed to this report.
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