Washington- Contrary to what is customary in announcing the visits of the US President to various states, where journalists are informed of the schedule and details of the trip, the White House avoided this in President Joe Biden’s first visit this year to Michigan, opening his election campaign in one of the most important swing states, which may contribute to determining the identity of the president. Next to the United States.
The White House justified not providing information about Biden’s visit to the state by saying that the trip was political in nature, and therefore outside the scope of the traditional protocol for visits by government officials.
Biden administration officials took steps to keep the details and schedule of the visit secret more than usual, as the locations of his meetings with representatives of auto factory workers’ unions, whose support Biden received for his candidacy in the 2024 elections, were not announced. The president’s motorcade avoided confronting those protesting the American position on the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip. Gaza by resorting to side streets.
The Biden campaign did not answer questions about why the president did not communicate with members of the Arab-American or Muslim communities during his visit to the state yesterday, Thursday, at a time when he most needs their votes next November.
hard mission
White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said Thursday that senior Biden officials will travel to Michigan this month “to hear directly from local leaders and activists to learn about a range of issues important to them and their families, including the conflict between Israel and Gaza.” She declined to specify which officials would travel to the state or when.
She added, “The president held meetings with Muslim and Arab leaders. Obviously, we do not announce every meeting. White House officials here have been in regular contact with local Muslim and Arab leaders in Michigan.”
She noted before the visit, “The White House understands that this is a very difficult time for many, and we always stress that the President believes that it is important for Americans to feel that their voices can be heard and to do so in a peaceful manner.”
At the same time, President Biden’s campaign is struggling to find Arab American leaders willing to even meet with campaign officials. Several local leaders in Michigan declined invitations to meet with Biden campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez.
Among them is Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud, who refused the meeting, saying, “This is not the time for electoral politics, and that the meeting about changing positions should be with policy makers, not with election campaign employees.”
Jolie attended two meetings with local Arab and Palestinian-American leaders last week, and reports also indicated her meeting with Representative Rashida Tlaib, who is considered one of the most vocal critics of Biden’s handling of the war between Israel and Hamas, last Friday.
Michigan Pivot
The possibility of Biden repeating his 2020 win in Michigan has been thrown into doubt by his continued support for Israel’s military campaign. Some state legislators who supported Biden’s 2020 campaign have become less enthusiastic as he prepares for the 2024 race, and it is difficult to imagine Biden being re-elected if he loses the state of Michigan, which has 15 votes in the electoral college.
Many have turned against Biden as a result of his steadfast support for Israel and what they see as a lack of sympathy for the Palestinians, and some Arabs and Muslims in Michigan launched a campaign called “Abandon Biden” as part of a broader effort at the national level to encourage Arabs and Muslims not to vote for Biden.
Michigan is home to one of the largest concentrations of Arab Americans in the country and a crucial electoral battleground. More than 310,000 people of Arab and Muslim origin live in Michigan, according to the 2020 census, a state that ranks second behind only California in its population of Arab origin.
Michigan is one of the swing states whose votes could go to Biden or Donald Trump. Trump won the state in 2016 and lost it in 2020, as Biden obtained 50.6% of the votes compared to 47.8% for Trump, i.e. a slight difference of 2.7%, or approximately 154,000 votes.
“We mobilized a lot of support for Biden’s election in Michigan in 2020, and we tracked 145,000 Muslim voters in the state who cast their ballots during the 2020 presidential election year,” says Nada Al-Hanouti, executive director of Emgage – Michigan Chapter, an organization that works to register American Muslims to vote. “Biden has a narrow margin in Michigan over former President Donald Trump by less than 155,000 votes. This only proves that Biden needs Muslim votes to win.”
Trump appeals to the angry
The Associated Press reported that 64% of Muslims across America supported Biden in 2020, while 35% of them supported Trump. In Michigan’s Arab-American majority counties, Arabs voted for Biden at a rate of just under 70%.
At the same time, former General Michael Flynn, Trump’s national security adviser, came to Michigan to speak to the Muslim community, seeking their support and the endorsement of former President Donald Trump.
Although Biden, in his first campaign visit to Michigan, avoided any interaction with the Arab-American community angry because of his support for the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip, senior Democrats in Michigan have been pressuring him for months to spend more time in the swing state. But White House officials fear that demonstrators will overwhelm or boycott his visit.
Biden’s visit was not entirely without confrontation, and while he was holding a political meeting at an African-American restaurant, a group of protesters outside the restaurant chanted “Shame on you,” “Joe Biden supports genocide,” and “How many children did you kill today?” “.
