President Joe Biden cruised, as expected, to the Democrat primary win in Michigan on Tuesday amid a concerning "uncommitted" vote in the wake of a protest campaign over what many Arab Americans in the state see as a soft stance on Israel.
The "uncommitted" vote, in the end, could surpass 100,000, a number that if reached would far exceed the expectations of the organizers, NBC News reported.
The "Listen to Michigan" campaign is hoping that a 10%-12% "uncommitted" turnout will get the attention of Biden, who defeated Donald Trump by 2.8 points in the Wolverine State in the 2020 election.
Biden was declared the winner at 9:01 p.m. ET by Decision Desk HQ, a minute after the last polls closed. With 25% of the vote reporting in, Biden had 79.7% and "uncommitted' 14.6%.
Michigan is home to a large Arab American constituency, and Tuesday's results are setting up to be a bellwether for Biden ahead of the general election.
At issue for Arab Americans is that Biden hasn't outright called for a cease-fire in Gaza and has tried to negotiate with Israel for a temporary pause in fighting to allow for the return of the remaining hostages, some of whom are believed to be Americans.
"When 74% of Democrats in Michigan support a cease-fire, yet President Biden is not hearing us, this is the way we can use our democracy to say, listen. Listen to Michigan," Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., said Tuesday.
The Abandon Biden Coalition is targeting all the other battleground states as well. Biden won all but Florida in 2020, and he's trailing Trump in all but Pennsylvania at this point.
Biden entered the Wolverine State primary trailing Trump by 5.1 points in the battleground state, according to RealClearPolitics polling average. That alone should set off warnings to the Biden campaign. On this date in 2020, Biden led Trump by 5.2 points and in 2016, Hillary Clinton led Trump by 6.5 points. Trump defeated Clinton by 10,704 votes in 2016.
Michigan will be a key state in Biden's reelection effort; he won it by 154,188 votes over Trump in 2020. The city of Dearborn reportedly has the nation's highest congregation of Arab Americans, and Michigan has the most Americans with Middle Eastern ancestry.
Mark Swanson ✉
Mark Swanson, a Newsmax writer and editor, has nearly three decades of experience covering news, culture and politics.
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