President Joe Biden came in second place in Michigan’s Democrat primary in Dearborn to the ballot option “uncommitted,” underscoring his deep unpopularity with the predominantly Muslim and Arab American voter base in the community.
The city of Dearborn’s election results show that “uncommitted” landed 6,432 votes, or 57 percent of the city’s total. It earned nearly 2,000 more votes than Biden at 4,526, which is 40 percent.
The result in Dearborn – “home to the largest Muslim population in the U.S.,” as the Michigan Advance reported in October – comes as the war between Israel and Hamas has fractured the left, with Democrats trying to hold together their coalition as pro-Palestinaians demand a ceasefire in the war.
Biden, who said, “Israel has the right to defend itself” following Hamas’s October 7 terrorist attacks and has requested an aid package for the country, has faced intense criticism from the far-left for his handling of the issue, and anti-Israel and pro-Palestinian demonstrations have occurred outside the White House.
According to Newsweek, a campaign called “Listen to Michigan,” was launched several weeks ago urging voters to select the uncommitted option to “pressure Biden to demand a permanent ceasefire in Gaza.”
For perspective as to exactly how jarring the Dearborn results are, one can look at the statewide total where the president won with 81 percent of the vote, while “uncommitted” came in second with 13 percent, according to the New York Times election results as of Wednesday morning. The difference in statewide results compared to Dearborn marks a 75-point shift toward the “uncommitted” option and away from Biden.
The happening was not just isolated to Dearborn, the Detroit Free Press reported:
Biden also suffered electoral blows in other cities with significant Arab American and Muslim communities. Biden also lost to “uncommitted” in Hamtramck where 828 “uncommitted” votes accounted for 61% of the total vote share in the city’s Democratic presidential primary, according to unofficial results. In Dearborn Heights, a plurality but not a majority of voters picked “uncommitted” over Biden, according to the unofficial tally.
The embarrassing showing for Biden comes after his administration dispatched top advisers to Dearborn for meetings with Arab American and Muslim leaders in the state, where some leaders were set to push hard on the administration for a cease-fire.
