Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib, an outspoken critic of President Joe Biden’s handling of the Israel-Hamas war, is calling on residents to vote “uncommitted” in the Michigan primary.
“We feel completely neglected and just unseen by our government. If you want us to be louder, then come here and vote uncommitted,” Tlaib, the first Palestinian American woman to serve in Congress, said in a video posted Saturday on X by Listen to Michigan.
Biden is grappling with growing discontent within his own party over his handling of the conflict between Israel and Hamas, as cries of “Genocide Joe” and “ceasefire now” follow him around the campaign trail. Michigan is home to one of the nation’s largest populations of Arab Americans and Muslims, and there is concern among Democrats that alienating that key group could hurt the president in a battleground state that was crucial to his 2020 win and is expected to be close again in November.
Tlaib – a liberal firebrand who represents parts of Detroit and its suburbs – previously accused Biden of supporting a Palestinian “genocide” and warned Americans will remember how he responded to the war when he’s up for reelection.
“Mr. President, the American people are not with you on this one,” Tlaib said in a November video, adding, “We will remember in 2024.”
The Listen to Michigan campaign is made up of more than 30 Michigan officials who have pledged to vote “uncommitted” in the state’s presidential primary on February 27 to demand Biden support a ceasefire.
“It is also important to create a voting bloc,” Tlaib said in the Saturday video. “Something that is a bullhorn to say, enough is enough. We don’t want a country that supports wars and bombs and destruction. We want to support life. We want to stand up for every single life killed in Gaza.”
Administration officials met with the Michigan leaders this month in an attempt to quell uproar from key parts of the president’s coalition over his support for Israel in its war and his reticence to publicly call for a ceasefire.
Some Arab American leaders signaled discontent with what they heard, with a spokesperson for Listen to Michigan saying the group was “met with yet another failure from the Biden administration to call for an immediate ceasefire that saves lives.”
CNN’s Michael Williams and Camila DeChalus contributed to this report.
