The polls closed in Michigan on Tuesday evening where President Joe Biden is facing a series of “disengaged” Democratic voters over his support for Israel’s war with Hamas.
MMost polling places in Michigan close at 8 p.m., but some in the state’s upper peninsula are open until 9 p.m., meaning no race calling will be made until then.
Early results showed Biden winning the state — which he also won in the 2020 general election — but 16 percent of Democrats in the state voted “uncommitted” over president, while only 11 percent reported.
Biden’s rival, Minnesota Rep. Dean Phillips, is also on the ballot.
In the Republican vote, former President Donald Trump faces his latest rival, former Amb. Nikki Haley. CountThe returns showed that Trump had a large lead.
There was little doubt that President Biden would win the Democratic primary in Michigan. Activists have pushed for a ‘non-committed’ vote on Israel’s war in Gaza
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
Biden has faced criticism in Michigan for his handling of Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza, and many Arab-American voters in Dearborn and other parts of Detroit have expressed anger over the war.
Squad member Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), a Palestinian-American, has pressured Biden and pushed the “uncommitted” effort.
“I was proud to walk in today and pull a Democratic ballot and vote uncommitted,” she said video.
FFormer Michigan Rep. Andy Levin, a leader in the push for “uncommitted,” said he doesn’t want Donald “ever anywhere near the White House again.”
But he told DailyMail.com an “uncommitted” party that is watching Biden’s problems go far beyond tactical after the president was criticized for not meeting Arab-American leaders during his visit here as resentment grew.
“It’s not because they didn’t come early enough or didn’t do enough… This is not a political problem. He can’t solve it with really good surrogates.’
He said Biden or any other Democrat “isn’t going to win without Michigan,” and that “Joe Biden can’t win Michigan without changing course.”
Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud blasted Biden for commenting on the latest ceasefire talks Monday while the president ate an ice cream cone.
‘I don’t like lip service or words. I am looking for action,” he told DailyMail.com outside a polling station.
Khalid Turaani, co-founder of the ‘Abandon Biden’ movement, predicted that thousands of people would vote for ‘uncommitted’.
“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.
President Joe Biden discussed talks for a temporary ceasefire Monday while having ice cream with “Late Night” host Seth Meyers in New York
Biden faced demands for a permanent ceasefire and a push to vote ‘uncommitted’
Dearborn has a high percentage of Arab-American and Muslim voters
“I think 10,000 is reasonable and I think we will get there,” he told DailyMail.com as he handed out sample ballots marked “not recorded.”
Of the first six people he spoke to, in English and Arabic outside a polling station, “only one person did not say he would not vote without obligation. He wasn’t talkative.’
Ten thousand is about the number by which Biden defeated Trump in 2020, demonstrating the influence Arab-American voters could have on the November election.
Trump has defeated Haley in all four early primary states where they both appeared on the ballot – Iowa, New HampshireSouth Carolina and now Michigan.
The former president also won the Nevada caucuses and a symbolic vote for Trump — voters who chose “none of these candidates” — defeated Haley in the Nevada presidential primary.
Former President Donald Trump held a campaign event in Michigan on February 17. After winning the South Carolina primary on Saturday, he stayed off the campaign trail, but has planned visits to Texas, North Carolina and Virginia (Super Tuesday states) in the coming days.
Former UN Ambassador. Nikki Haley made a campaign stop in Grand Rapids, Michigan on Monday before moving to Minnesota and Colorado, the Super Tuesday state. In Grand Rapids, she complained that Trump was trying to make the RNC his personal “box.”
Haley, however, has vowed to press on, telling supporters in Charleston Saturday evening that she would continue the race through Super Tuesday, March 5, when 16 states and American Samoa will hold primaries.
“There are huge numbers of voters in our Republican primaries who say they want an alternative,” she said Saturday evening.
“I said earlier this week that no matter what happens in South Carolina, I would continue to run for president. I am a woman who keeps my word,” she said jubilantly.
During a CNN interview Tuesday night as Michigan’s votes were being counted, Haley reiterated that commitment.
“Absolutely, we absolutely have a country to save,” Haley told the network’s Dana Bash.
