Joe Biden faces voter backlash over Israel policy
Joe Biden has won Michigan’s Democratic presidential primary – but has been hit by a significant protest vote from those angry at his support for Israel’s military action in Gaza.
With most of the counting complete, the US president easily defeated his rival candidates by securing more than 80% of the vote.
However, more than 13% of voters – just over 100,000 – backed “uncommitted”.
It follows a campaign which urged Democrats to vote for the “none of the above” category to express their opposition to Mr Biden’s support for Israel’s “genocidal” actions towards Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
Israel strongly denies accusations of genocide and other war crimes.
The results are a major boost for campaigners, who were hoping to achieve 10,000 votes for the “uncommitted” category.
The level of dissatisfaction among the Democrat base could be significant during the presidential election in November later this year, as Mr Biden only narrowly won the state – which has a large Arab-American population – during the last election.
The president made no reference to the protest vote in his victory statement – but did urge his party to “come together” to help defeat Donald Trump.
Mr Biden said on Tuesday he hoped a ceasefire in Gaza could be achieved by this weekend.
The US president has previously described Israel’s offensive as “over the top” and has privately described Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as an “asshole” on at least three occasions, according to reports.
However, campaigners have accused Mr Biden of not doing enough to push for peace, and argue Israel’s actions would be limited without the military and economic backing it receives from the US.
The Listen to Michigan campaign said in a statement: “Our movement emerged victorious tonight and massively surpassed our expectations.
“Tens of thousands of Michigan Democrats, many of whom who voted for Biden in 2020, are uncommitted to his re-election due to the war in Gaza.”
Protesters are planning to take their campaign to the Democratic National Convention in Chicago in August.
It came as Mr Trump continued his winning streak and won the Republican primary in the state on Tuesday, securing more than 68% of the vote.
His main rival Nikki Haley secured just over 25%.
The former UN ambassador vowed to stay in the race despite the disappointing result, which comes following a string of other recent defeats.
She told CNN: “We’ve only seen a handful of states vote. We’re taking this one state, one day, at a time.”
Mr Trump told supporters: “We have to win on 5 November, and we’re going to win big, and it’s going to be like nothing that anybody has ever seen. It’s going to be fantastic.
“We win Michigan, we win the whole thing.”
Michigan reveals concerns for Biden and Trump
Mark Stone
@Stone_SkyNews
A hundred thousand people chose to go out on a cold Michigan night to vote for nobody.
That should cause some anxiety in the White House. Here’s why.
The Michigan primary is the latest in the series of state contests to choose the presidential candidates.
The headline was not surprising given the trajectory so far.
Joe Biden comfortably won the Democratic Party primary with about 81% of the vote.
Donald Trump was the far-away victor in the Republican race with about 68% of the votes compared to Nikki Haley’s 26.5%.
But look beyond that headline and there is some revealing stuff which should worry both sides.
First, Biden and that number of 100,000. That’s the number of people who turned out to tick “uncommitted” on their ballot rather than voting for Biden.
That is the consequence of a protest campaign against the war in Gaza which has taken shape over the past few weeks across Michigan.
America’s largest Arab and Muslim populations are in Michigan.
Biden’s unequivocal support for Israel in Gaza has riled communities across the state, as has the number of civilian deaths.
Biden still won with 81% of the vote, yes. But if this protest vote translates in the general election and 100,000 people refuse to vote for Biden then, in this swing state, it could cost him the White House.
In 2016, Donald Trump won Michigan by just 10,000. That’s why this could really matter.
I have spoken to life-long Democrats with family ties to the Middle East who say they could now never vote for Biden.
Some have pointed out that in 2008 the Michigan uncommitted vote was much higher. That was different, though.
The uncommitted voted that time for Barak Obama and John Edwards, who had decided not to contest the state. Their supporters chose uncommitted to support them.
This time it’s all about one issue – Gaza.
What about Trump? Well, here too, alarm bells for his campaign.
A total of 30% of Republican voters chose not Trump, but his opponent Nikki Haley or Ron DeSantis, who’s already dropped out.
So a significant portion of Republicans are firmly opposed to Trump or, at the very least, not fans of his.
Remember, in this swing state Trump won by just 10,000 votes in 2016 and then lost to Biden by 150,000 in 2020.
As always, Michigan will be a nail-biting state to watch closely. It should already be causing unease for both sides.