CHICAGO– Muslim community leaders from several swing states pledged at a conference in suburban Detroit on Saturday to withdraw support for US President Joe Biden, citing his refusal to call for a ceasefire in Gaza.
Democrats in Michigan have warned the White House that Biden's handling of the war between Israel and Hamas could cost him enough support within the Arab-American community to influence the outcome of the 2024 presidential election.
Leaders from Michigan, Minnesota, Arizona, Wisconsin, Florida, Georgia, Nevada and Pennsylvania gathered behind a lectern reading “Leave Biden, Ceasefire Now” in Dearborn, Michigan, the city with the largest concentration of Arab Americans in the United States.
More than 13,300 Palestinians – roughly two-thirds of whom are women and minors, according to the Health Ministry in Hamas-ruled Gaza – have been killed in the war between Israel and Hamas. About 1,200 Israelis have been killed, mainly during Hamas's attack on Israel on October 7, which sparked the war.
Biden's unwillingness to call for a ceasefire has irreparably damaged his relationship with America's Muslim community, according to Minneapolis-based Jaylani Hussein, who helped organize the conference.
“Families and children are being wiped out with our tax dollars,” Hussein said. “What we are witnessing today is one tragedy after another.”
Hussein, who is Muslim, told the Associated Press: “The anger in our community is unbelievable. One of the things that made us even angrier is the fact that most of us actually voted for President Biden. I even had one incident where a religious leader asked me, “How do I get my 2020 ballot so I can destroy it?” he said.
White House spokesman Andrew Bates said earlier that the Biden administration has pushed for humanitarian pauses in the fight to get humanitarian aid to Gaza, adding that “the fight against the poison of anti-Semitism and standing up for Israel's sovereign right to defend oneself have always been core values for President Biden.”
Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania were crucial components of the 'blue wall' of states that saw Biden return to the Democratic column and help him win the White House in 2020. About 3.45 million Americans identify as Muslim, or 1.1% of the country's population, and According to the Pew Research Center, the demographic group leans Democratic.
But leaders said Saturday that community support for Biden has disappeared as more Palestinian men, women and children are killed in Gaza.
“We are not powerless as American Muslims. We are powerful. Not only do we have the money, but we also have the actual votes. And we will use that voice to save this nation from itself,” Hussein said at the conference.
The condemnation of Biden by leaders of the Muslim community does not indicate support for former President Donald Trump, the clear frontrunner in the Republican primaries, Hussein clarified.
“We don't have two options. We have many options. And we are going to take advantage of that,” he said.
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Savage is a staff member of the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.