{"id":23407,"date":"2024-02-03T02:31:27","date_gmt":"2024-02-03T08:31:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/?p=23407"},"modified":"2024-02-03T02:31:32","modified_gmt":"2024-02-03T08:31:32","slug":"biden-meets-with-friendly-autoworkers-in-michigan-but-avoids-angry-gaza-protesters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/?p=23407","title":{"rendered":"Biden meets with friendly autoworkers in Michigan, but avoids angry Gaza protesters"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

WARREN, Michigan (AP) \u2014 President Joe Biden<\/a> chatted with a friendly union crowd inside a United Auto Workers hall<\/a> in Michigan on Thursday as pro-Palestinian demonstrators held back by police with riot shields voiced their anger<\/a> nearby at the president\u2019s full-throated support for Israel in its war with Hamas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The tension highlighted the challenges ahead for Biden in holding on to this critical battleground state in November over likely rival Donald Trump, and underscored the Democrats\u2019 concerns about flagging enthusiasm among voters who have been key to their coalition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Biden\u2019s visit with autoworkers making phone bank calls for him ahead of the state\u2019s Democratic primary came just days after union President Shawn Fain announced their endorsement of him. Fain praised Biden\u2019s ties to the working class, saying, \u201cWe know who\u2019s been there for labor and who wasn\u2019t,\u201d adding that the union\u2019s mission now is to \u201ckeep Joe Biden as our president.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Biden, who joined striking workers on the picket line last year, replied, \u201cSupporting you is the easiest thing I\u2019ve ever done.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, Biden\u2019s Michigan schedule did not include any meetings with Arab Americans, adding to increasing frustration<\/a> over his support of Israel in its war with Hamas<\/a> as the Palestinian death toll has mounted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhy not have a meaningful conversation for how you change course with a community that has first-hand accounts of what it\u2019s like to live in the countries where your decision-making is unfolding?\u201d said Abdullah Hammoud, the mayor of Dearborn, one of the largest Arab American communities in the nation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

0 seconds of 1 minute, 3 secondsVolume 90%<\/p>\n\n\n\n

President Joe Biden celebrated his recent endorsement by the United Auto Workers union by visiting Michigan on Thursday, but growing anger over U.S. support for Israel\u2019s war in Gaza in the critical battleground state with the nation\u2019s highest density of Arab Americans meant for a shaky reception for the Democratic president. (Feb 1) (AP video by Mike Householder) (AP production by Javier Arciga)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite the White House offering no advance details about Biden\u2019s planned meeting, close to 200 pro-Palestinian demonstrators were waiting for Biden near the UAW Region 1 building in Warren ahead of his event there. The president\u2019s motorcade bypassed them using side streets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Protesters chanted \u201cHey Biden, what do you say? We won\u2019t vote on Election Day\u201d as well as pro-Palestinian slogans, including \u201cFree, free Palestine.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amir Naddaf, 34, traveled with friends from Ann Arbor to protest the president\u2019s UAW event after having supported Biden in the 2020 election<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe came here to send a clear message to the administration that they\u2019re not welcome in Michigan,\u201d said Naddaf.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dozens of riot gear-clad police officers and an armored vehicle kept the protesters from approaching the union hall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More than 26,000 Palestinians<\/a>, mostly women and minors, have been killed in Gaza since Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7,<\/a> according to the Health Ministry in the Hamas-ruled territory. Hamas killed more than 1,200 people and kidnapped about 250 more, mostly civilians, in the attack.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Michigan has shifted increasingly Democratic<\/a> in recent years, with the party controlling all levels<\/a> of state government for the first time in four decades. Biden is looking to build on that power as he seeks reelection and the state\u2019s critical 15 electoral votes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The president faces no serious challenge in the primary, but his campaign is trying to build energy for the tougher fight to come in the fall. Michigan was part of the so-called blue wall<\/a> of three states \u2014 with Wisconsin and Pennsylvania \u2014 that Biden returned to the Democratic column when he won the White House in 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He kicked off his visit to Michigan by meeting with Black religious leaders at They Say restaurant in Harper Woods, outside of Detroit, before thanking autoworkers for their support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Warren, where Biden met with union workers, is in Macomb County, an area that Democrats lost by a wide margin to Trump in the past two national elections. Biden\u2019s outreach to workers there came amid concerns within the party over rising tension between Biden and Arab Americans in the state<\/a>, many of them in Detroit\u2019s Wayne County, which is the Democratic Party\u2019s largest base.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters on Air Force One with Biden that senior administration officials will travel to Michigan later in February to hear from community leaders on the conflict in Israel and Gaza. She did not specify which officials or with whom they would meet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The early endorsement by the UAW was a clear win for Biden, who came to Michigan to stand alongside striking autoworkers last year. His latest meeting with union members comes on the heels of Trump\u2019s visit with another one<\/a> of the U.S. most influential unions, the Teamsters, in Washington on Wednesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Mich., a longtime Biden ally, said Democrats need to tend to a multitude of constituencies in Michigan to hold on to the state in 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMichigan is a purple state. I say that to everybody,\u201d she said. \u201cClearly, the Arab American community matters. But young people have to turn out. They were very decisive two years ago in voter turnout. A lot of the union leadership has endorsed the president, but we\u2019ve got to get into the union halls and do the contrast so people really understand what it\u2019s about. And we\u2019ve got to make sure women and independents turn out. You know, we\u2019re a competitive state.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Biden\u2019s campaign manager, Julie Chavez Rodriguez<\/a>, led a group of campaign advisers to the Dearborn area last week as part of her ongoing effort to meet with core supporter groups around the country. She spoke with some community leaders, but the trip ended abruptly when Arab American leaders declined to show up for a meeting with her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ahead of Biden\u2019s visit, demonstrators held a community rally in Dearborn on Wednesday night to protest administration policies backing Israel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe people in the Middle Eastern community are not confused. They are crystal clear on how Palestine has been handled versus Israel,\u201d said former Democratic state Rep. Sherry Gay-Dagnogo, who is from Detroit. \u201cJust to come and visit them without changing your positions is not going to move them. African Americans are not confused either. And so you can\u2019t just do visits. A visit is not enough.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Biden and his aides have said they do not want to see any civilians die in Hamas-ruled Gaza, and the U.S. is working to negotiate another cease-fire to allow critical aid to reach the territory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During an October visit to Tel Aviv<\/a>, Biden warned the Israelis not to be \u201cconsumed by rage.\u201d But the president and his aides have also said he believes Israel has the right to defend itself and he has asked Congress for billions to help Israel in its war effort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Thursday during a National Prayer Breakfast in Washington ahead of his trip, Biden spoke of the threat of Islamophobia and anti-Semitism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNot only do we pray for peace, we are actively working for peace, security, dignity for the Israeli people and the Palestinian people,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A December AP-NORC poll found that 59% percent of Democrats approve of Biden\u2019s approach to the conflict, up from 50% in November<\/a>. But Democratic voters in New Hampshire\u2019s primary<\/a> were roughly split on how Biden has handled the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict, according to AP VoteCast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

apnews<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

WARREN, Michigan (AP) \u2014 President Joe Biden chatted with a friendly union crowd inside a United Auto Workers hall in Michigan on Thursday as pro-Palestinian demonstrators held back by police with riot shields voiced their anger nearby at the president\u2019s full-throated support for Israel in its war with Hamas. The tension highlighted the challenges ahead for Biden in holding on to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":23408,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[5738,22683,1169,2010,1151,10071,1868,26353],"class_list":["post-23407","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics","tag-angry","tag-autoworkers","tag-biden","tag-friendly","tag-gaza","tag-meet","tag-michigan","tag-shun"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23407","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=23407"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23407\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23409,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23407\/revisions\/23409"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/23408"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=23407"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=23407"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=23407"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}