Democrats in Michigan have warned the White House that President Joe Biden’s handling of the Israel-Hamas conflict could cost him enough support within the Arab American community to sway the outcome of the 2024 election in a state considered critical for his bid for reelection.
The situation has prompted the White House to discuss ways to alleviate tensions with some of the state’s prominent Democrats,including several who have been vocal critics of the president about the war.
Abraham Aiyash,the third-ranking Democrat in the state House of Representatives,said there would be electoral reverberations for Biden.
“The message has been relayed. We’ve had calls with the White House. We’ve had calls with[Democratic National Committee] officials,” he said.
Michigan was a critical component of the so-called blue wall of states that includes Wisconsin and Pennsylvania that Biden returned to the Democratic column,helping him win the White House in 2020.
In 2020,Muslim voters nationally supported Biden over Trump 64 per cent to 35 per cent,according to AP VoteCast.
Michigan holds the largest concentration of Arab Americans in the nation and over 310,000 residents are of Middle Eastern or North African ancestry. Many in the community are pledging to coalesce against Biden’s reelection campaign unless he calls for a ceasefire in the war.
Biden has rather than a ceasefire,and said Israel has a right to defend itself.
A senior Michigan Democratic Party official said Biden’s handling of the war has emerged in the state as a “huge” problem and could become more vexing if the war stretches on and the death toll in Gaza continues to rise. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive party concerns.
AP