Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud was unimpressed by President Joe Biden’s “strange” comments about a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas — which the president said while enjoying a scoop of ice cream with comedian Seth Meyers.
Hammoud, 33, called Biden “uncommitted” instead of his party’s leader shortly before casting his vote at a polling station in Dearborn, part of a protest movement that could spell trouble for the president in battleground Michigan .
“I guess I find it strange that you’re sitting in a parlor eating ice cream – that’s when you talk about a ceasefire coming forward,” he told DailMail.com when asked about the the president’s final remarks.
He then referred to Benjamin Netanyahu’s statements about his plan to invade Rafah within Gaza.
‘I don’t like lip service or words. I’m looking for action. You want a long-term, permanent and ordinary ceasefire. We do not want a return to the status quo of occupation and apartheid, of bombing, of siege, of devastation and annihilation for the Palestinian people. And that means the establishment of a just Palestinian state,” he said.
“I guess I find it strange that you’re sitting in a parlor eating ice cream — that’s when you talk about a ceasefire coming up,” said Mayor Abdullah Hammoud of Dearborn, Michigan.
He was not the only figure to criticize the location. “That’s a big announcement from the president to be given at an ice cream parlor,” CNN’s Jake Tapper said after video emerged of Biden’s remarks at a New York City ice cream parlor.
Hammoud is one of the leading figures pushing to boost the vote for “uncommitted” Biden, in an effort to force a policy change. He is Dearborn’s first Arab-American and first Muslim mayor. The diverse city is critical to Biden’s ability to hold Michigan, a state he won in 2020 but lost to Donald Trump in 2016.
Biden’s comment suggested progress and appeared to surprise Israel and Qatar, which helped mediate talks after Hamas took more than 200 hostages during the Oct. 7 Hamas attack in Israel, leaving people dead.
“Well, I hope at the beginning of the weekend, I mean the end of the weekend,” Biden responded to a reporter’s question about a ceasefire while holding an ice cream cone. “My national security adviser says we’re close, we’re not done yet. I hope we have a ceasefire next Monday.”
Earlier Tuesday, ‘Squad’ member Rashida Tlaib voted ‘uncommitted’ over Biden as she rejected policies she said were funding US ‘genocide’.
President Joe Biden discussed talks for a temporary ceasefire Monday while having ice cream with “Late Night” host Seth Meyers in New York
Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) cast her vote for “uncommitted” rather than for President Joe Biden as she accused the U.S. of aiding “genocide” against the Palestinians. She posted a video after voting
Tlaib posted a video to bringing the war between Israel and Hamas. and demand a ceasefire.
“I was proud to walk in today and pull a Democratic ballot and vote uncommitted,” the Michigan Democrat and Palestinian American lawmaker said in videowhich she photographed while walking from below.
“President Biden doesn’t hear us. This is the way we can use our democracy to say, ‘listen. Listen to Michigan,” she said, using the slogan of one of the groups encouraging the effort.
‘No more wars. We should no longer use our dollars to finance a genocide,” she said.
Supporters of the effort say they have set a goal of 10,000 people voting “uncommitted.”
Some Biden allies say the effort could send a message without hurting the 81-year-old presidents. Others say it could jeopardize his prospects in a state he must win to defeat Donald Trump.
Numerous Arab-American voters DailyMail.com spoke to at a polling station in Dearborn, Michigan, said they supported the “uncommitted” effort, and some said they were so furious with Biden that they would support Donald Trump.
Jamileh Karkaba is a driving instructor who immigrated to the US from Lebanon decades ago.
Jamileh Karkaba is a driving instructor who immigrated to the US from Lebanon and said Biden is ‘doing nothing for us’ and plans to switch her support to Donald Trump after voting ‘uncommitted’
Issat Tahan, a plumber originally from Jerusalem, whispered to a reporter that he voted for Biden and not for ‘voluntary’
The Michigan primaries are Tuesday. Biden has minimal opposition, but is struggling with the protest movement
Particularly in Hamtramck and Dearborn, where large numbers of Arab-Americans live, many voters planned to “voluntarily” vote in the Democratic primaries.
“I want Republicans now because Biden is doing nothing for us,” she said. “He is helping Israel kill our people.”
She said she came to vote on the Democratic ballot uncommitted but will pull the lever for Trump in November, saying she felt “so comfortable” when he was in power.
But she is at a loss for words about Trump’s 2016 Muslim ban, which she says bothers her.
“I don’t know what to say about that, but I’m against it.”
Issat Tahan, a plumber originally from Jerusalem, returned and whispered to a reporter that he had voted for Biden
‘I don’t believe in ‘untethered’. I have my opinion. Even in the war that is killing thousands of people: ‘He did his best. “There’s nothing he can do about it,” he said.
He said he liked Biden calling for a temporary ceasefire. “Thank God he will stop the war,” he said.