(NewsNation) — A number of progressive and Arab American activists say they plan to pick “uncommitted” in the Michigan Democratic primary to protest President Joe Biden’s support for Israel and refusal to call for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza.
Michigan is one of five or six swing states in America that could decide the election results. In the 2020 election, Biden won Michigan by around 150,000 votes — but in 2024, the anger among the state’s Democrats, especially progressives, is very real.
“Enough is enough,” Mohammad Alam, the national chair of the American Muslim Political Action Committee, said. “Joe Biden failed himself, Joe Biden failed humanity, so the Muslim American community, our message is yes, indeed, Feb. 27, in Michigan, we are voting uncommitted.”
Nearly 30,000 people have been killed in Gaza since Israel started its bombardment on Oct. 7, the area’s Health Ministry said, according to the Associated Press. More than two-thirds of them are women and children.
Israel declared war last year after Hamas-led militants attacked the southern part of the country, killing 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking about 250 others hostage.
Nearly five months into the war, preparations are underway for Israel to expand its ground operation into Rafah, where dense tent camps have been created to house the around 2 million Palestinians who have been displaced. That’s most of Gaza’s population.
More than a quarter of the 2.3 million people in Gaza are starving, the United Nations said.
Last month, the UN’s top court demanded Israel try to contain death and damage to prevent a genocide of the Palestinian people, although it stopped short of ordering an end to the military offensive. While the International Court of Justice added that Israel must provide those in the Gaza Strip with desperately needed aid, Human Rights Watch said Monday that officials were failing to comply with this. Israel has denied these charges, saying it is fighting in self-defense.” It blames humanitarian organizations in Gaza for the lack of aid coming in.
Although the White House says they have urged Israel to limit further civilian casualties in Gaza and Biden himself has said that Israel needs to “operate within the laws of war,” the president has repeatedly emphasized his view that Israel has the right to defend itself.
As the carnage continues, Muslim and Arab American voters and leaders have become more vocal in their criticisms of Biden. Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., the only Palestinian American in Congress, is among those calling on Michigan residents to choose the “uncommitted” option on the Democratic ballot.
“This is the way you can raise our voices, to make us even more visible,” Tlaib said in a video posted by the Listen To Michigan campaign. “Right now, we feel completely neglected — neglected and just unseen by our government.”
Other Democrats, including Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, have said any vote not for Biden would mean one for former President Donald Trump, the Republican frontrunner for presidential nominee.
“A second Trump term would be devastating, not just on fundamental rights, not just on our democracy here at home, but also when it comes to foreign policy,” she said CNN’s “State of the Union.” “This was a man who promoted a Muslim ban. This is, I think, a very high-stakes moment. I am encouraging people to cast an affirmative vote for President Biden.”
Voting ‘uncommitted’ is a gambit that’s gaining serious momentum and could send a serious message to the Biden campaign. Still, Biden is expected to win Michigan, just as he did in South Carolina, where he received 96% of the vote.
The situation is even more complicated for Biden as he’s got legislative priorities in Washington, D.C., including a looming deadline coming this week for a potential government shutdown if funding isn’t approved. There’s also a massive $95 billion foreign aid package for Ukraine and Israel Biden’s trying to get across the finish line.
Although the foreign aid legislation passed the Senate, Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana and other leading GOP representatives have opposed it, as certain border provisions originally included were taken out.
On Tuesday, Biden is planning to meet with Johnson, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y. and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., to talk about passing the aid bill as well as avoiding the shutdown, a White House official told the Associated Press.
Meanwhile, experts predict Trump will win the Michigan primary over GOP candidate and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley.
The Associated Press and NewsNation’s Cassie Buchman contributed to this report.
