The White House and President Joe Biden’s campaign team are reportedly in panic mode over an effort in Michigan urging Democratic voters to protest his handling of the Israel-Hamas war by voting "Uncommitted" in the state’s Tuesday presidential primary.
"They are freaking out about the uncommitted vote," a Democrat close to Biden said of the president and his reelection campaign team, according to Politico.
A campaign called Listen to Michigan has been at the forefront of the movement to pull votes from Biden in Michigan. "Michigan voters are sending Biden a clear message in the February 27 Democratic primary that he can count us out," the campaign said on its website. "We are filling out the UNCOMMITTED bubble because we strongly reject Biden’s funding war and genocide in Gaza."
Layla Elabed, the campaign manager of Listen to Michigan, told the New York Times that she hopes shunning Biden in the primary would make him "feel more at risk of losing Michigan in the general election" and "shift his policy to support a ceasefire, at least."
Our Revolution, a political organization launched by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) in 2016, announced on Feb. 14 that it would also join the protest against Biden. The progressive group planned to email its 312,000 supporters in Michigan and other states, urging them to select "Uncommitted" in the primary to "push Biden to change course on Gaza now."
Biden has faced backlash from other Michigan Democrats over the war. In late January, Dearborn mayor Abdullah Hammoud (D.) and local Arab-American leaders refused to meet with Biden’s campaign manager Julie Chávez Rodríguez due to the president’s approach to the Israel-Hamas conflict.
"Our immediate demand is crystal clear: the Biden administration must call for a permanent ceasefire to a genocide it is defending and funding with our tax dollars," Hammoud wrote on X, adding, "I will not entertain conversations about elections while we watch a live-streamed genocide backed by our government."