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Andrew Roth, Michigan Advance
While President Joe Biden faces a primary from U.S. Rep. Dean Phillips (D-Minn.), his biggest challenger may be no one if pro-Palestinian organizers have their way.
Speaking in front of banners that read “ABANDON BIDEN,” activists told a crowd of about 50 people gathered at the Michigan Capitol on Friday to vote “uncommitted” in Michigan’s Democratic presidential primary on Feb. 27. As the Advance previously reported, that effort kicked off earlier this month led by Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud, with more than 30 elected officials signing on.
While the event – which was sponsored by the American Muslim Political Action Committee, Muslim Voice For Global Justice, No More Biden, Defeat Biden, American Human Rights Council and Abandon Biden Campaign – was not attended by many elected officials or candidates for public office, U.S. Senate candidate Nasser Beydoun spoke at the event and joined those calling for voters unhappy with the Biden administration’s handling of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza to vote uncommitted.
“When you vote uncommitted, what you’re doing is you’re showing the Biden administration that there is not going to be a president elected in the United States unless he wins Michigan, and this is the place that we are going to make our last stand,” Beydoun said. “This is the place that’s going to show America what humanity is all about, what morality is all about, and that we will stand up for innocent people all over the world.”
The war began after the militant group Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, killing more than 1,200 Israelis and taking 253 hostages, including Americans. Since then, the death toll has topped 28,000, with more than 67,000 injured, per Gaza’s Hamas-controlled health ministry.
Biden on Friday said he’s had “extensive conversations” with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in recent days in which he urged Netanyahu to seek a ceasefire with Hamas to allow the release of hostages held by the militant group. Biden said he did not anticipate Israel would launch “any massive land invasion in the meantime.”
Senior Biden officials traveled to Southeast Michigan earlier this month to talk with Arab-American and Muslim leaders about their concerns about the conflict.
Beydoun is running for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow. He is a former CEO of the Qatar-based Wataniya Restaurants group, where he worked on expanding outlets of chains like Rainforest Café and Sbarro. He has also served as executive director of the Arab American Chamber of Commerce and chair of the Arab American Civil Rights League.
Other Democratic candidates running include actor Hill Harper and U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-Lansing).
There’s a large field on the Republican side: former U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers (R-White Lake), former U.S. Rep. Peter Meijer (R-Grand Rapids), Detroit-area businessman Sandy Pensler, Board of Education member Nikki Snyder; Alexandria Taylor, an attorney who has previously represented Michigan GOP Chair Kristina Karamo; Sherry O’Donnell, a former 2022 congressional candidate and Michigan state chair for U.S. Term Limits; conservative businessman J.D. Wilson; Sharon Savage, an educator who worked for the Warren Consolidated School District for 42 years; and Michael Hoover, who previously worked for Dow Chemical Co.
“Before we can end the occupation of Palestine, we have to end the occupation of Congress,” Beydoun said, referring to the Israeli-American Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).
Former U.S. Rep. Andy Levin (D-Bloomfield Twp.) has endorsed the campaign to vote uncommitted in the Democratic primary, signing an email through Our Revolution, the grassroots organization founded by U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) following the 2016 presidential election.
“There are 87,000 Our Rev Michigan supporters with phone numbers and emails we can reach in the next 13 days. If even 10% of them vote uncommitted it will send a huge message to the White House, ensuring that ‘uncommitted’ comes in second and demanding that President Biden change US policy now,” Levin wrote.
However, there appears to be some disagreement about what happens after the primary, assuming Biden is the eventual Democratic nominee.
Levin said that by voting uncommitted, it will make Biden a stronger general election candidate.
“By voting uncommitted, Our Rev supporters can push Biden to change course on Gaza now and increase his chances of winning Michigan in November – because we MUST defeat the right wing Trump agenda!” the email continues.
Beydoun, however, told attendees Friday that “Genocide Joe has lost all credibility, or the right to lead this beautiful nation.”
Rabbi Alam, an organizer of Friday’s rally, said that he is often asked who he would vote for in a rematch between Biden and former President Donald Trump.
“If Donald Trump is the candidate, I am not telling you who to vote for, but don’t vote for Biden. I will be voting for Trump,” Alam said.
Trump has been a strong ally of Netanyahu and during his presidency, he moved the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem to the anger of Palestinians. He is scheduled to campaign in Waterford Township on Saturday.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg addressed the campaign to vote uncommitted in the Democratic primary during a labor roundtable in Lansing last week, saying that Biden “understands that he needs to earn every vote” and that “no one’s support is being taken for granted right now.”
Biden visited the state on Feb. 1 to join UAW members in Warren after receiving the union’s endorsement. Trump will hold a rally in Waterford Township on Saturday, while Vice President Kamala Harris will be visiting Grand Rapids to discuss reproductive rights on Thursday.
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a national co-chair of Biden’s re-election campaign, has been working to deliver the state for the president through her Fight Like Hell PAC, which derives its name from the phrase she used while campaigning on abortion rights during her own re-election campaign in 2022 after Roe v. Wade was overturned.
Before the rally Friday, CodePink Michigan unfurled an 18-foot banner from the Michigan Capitol that read “FEMINISTS SAY NO TO WAR.” The activists also delivered a letter to Whitmer’s office asking her to call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.
Michigan Advance is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Michigan Advance maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Susan J. Demas for questions: info@michiganadvance.com. Follow Michigan Advance on Facebook and Twitter.
