DEARBORN, Mich. (AP) — President Joe Biden and former president donald trump His victory in the Michigan primary on Tuesday further strengthened his support. almost certain rematch But early results from the states highlighted some of their biggest political vulnerabilities ahead of the November general election.
A vigorous “non-commitment” campaign organized by activists disillusioned with Biden's handling of the Gaza war was moving forward. That was already well above the 10,000-vote margin Trump won in Michigan in 2016, a goal set by organizers of this year's protests.
As for Trump, he won the first five states on the Republican primary calendar. But there were early signs that Trump continues to struggle with some influential voters who have supported former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley in previous campaigns. Haley's strongest performances Tuesday night took place in college towns like Ann Arbor, home to the University of Michigan, and in the suburbs around Detroit and Grand Rapids.
For Mr. Biden, the significant share of “uncommitted” voters could indicate a weakening portion of the Democratic base in states he cannot afford to lose in November. On the other hand, Mr. Trump Suburban voters and people with college degrees underperform.and faces factions within the party who believe he broke the law in one or more criminal cases against him.
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michigan It has the highest concentration of Arab Americans in the country. More than 310,000 residents have Middle Eastern or North African ancestry. Almost half of the approximately 110,000 residents of Dearborn, a suburb of Detroit, claim Arab ancestry.
Both White House and Biden campaign officials They have traveled to Michigan in recent weeks to talk with regional leaders about the Israel-Hamas war and how Biden is tackling the conflict, but leaders have not been persuaded.
A powerful grassroots effort began just a few weeks ago to encourage voters to choose “non-commitment” as a way to register their objections to the death toll from Israeli attacks. Palestinian health officials say nearly 30,000 people have died in Gaza, two-thirds of them women and children.
The move is backed by officials including Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib, the first Palestinian-American woman to serve in Congress, and former Rep. Andy Levin.
The “non-commit” vote hovered around the 15% level needed to qualify for statewide delegates. It was too early to tell whether the campaign would attract delegates locally.
Biden did not directly acknowledge the “dedicated” efforts in his statement. Instead, he touted the progress his administration has made for Michigan voters while warning that President Trump “pursues vengeance and retaliation and threatens to drag us further into the past.”
“This fight to protect our freedoms, our working families, and our democracy requires all of us to come together,” Biden said. “I know you will.”
Trump won the state in 2016 by just 11,000 votes over Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton, but lost the state to Biden four years later by nearly 154,000 votes. Organizers of the “No Commitment” effort wanted to show how influential the bloc was by showing it received at least as many votes as President Trump's margin of victory in 2016.
“There's no question to me that this president has softened his words and started recognizing the suffering of the Palestinian people. But what's missing is lip service. What we need is a withdrawal of support for Israel.” said Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud during the start of voting Tuesday night.
“Tonight, we will watch as the votes are counted. But the most important thing is to know that the White House is listening,” Hammoud said.
Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.), a prominent Biden supporter in the state, said ahead of Tuesday night that the president's campaign is well aware of the challenges in Michigan. He stressed the need to continue supporting not only Arab American and Muslim communities, but also other coalitions that will be important to Democrats in November.
“We have to talk to young people,” Dingell said, referring to Washtenaw County, where Ann Arbor is located. “Last year, women showed up in record numbers to union halls.” Dingell also noted that Trump has underperformed among Republican primary voters, leading to book losses in key battleground states. It highlighted the weaknesses of the election.
President Trump defeated his last major primary challenger, Haley, in Michigan by 20 percentage points. Saturday in her home state of South Carolina.. The Trump campaign is aiming to secure the 1,215 delegates needed to win the Republican nomination by mid-March.
Mr. Trump's lead in the early states is unprecedented since 1976, when Iowa and New Hampshire began the tradition of holding the first nominating contests. He has overwhelming support from most of the Republican voting base, including evangelical voters, conservatives and rural voters. But Trump is having a hard time connecting with college-educated voters.lost that block to Haley at South Carolina on Saturday night.
Trump did not visit the state Tuesday night. Instead, he attended the Michigan Republican Party's election night watch party in Grand Rapids, emphasizing the state's importance in the general election and saying Tuesday night's results were “much better than expected.”
“Our mission is very simple: We have to win on November 5th, and we're going to win big,” Trump said, according to his campaign record. “We beat Michigan. We win everything.”
But Olivia Perez-Cubas, a spokeswoman for Haley's campaign, said the Michigan results were “flashing warning signs for Trump in November.”
“Let this serve as another warning sign that what happened in Michigan will continue to play out across the country. As long as Donald Trump is on top, the Republican Party will continue to lose to the socialist left. Deaf. Our children deserve better.”
Still, even Republican leaders who were once skeptical of President Trump are increasingly sympathetic. Sen. John Thune, the No. 2 Republican in South Dakota's Senate and a critic of his party's standard-bearers, endorsed Trump as the presidential candidate on Sunday.
Shaher Abdullabh, 35, an engineer from Dearborn, said Tuesday morning that he voted for Trump. Abdul-Rabbu said he believes Arab Americans have more in common with Republicans than Democrats.
Abdul-Rabbu said he voted for Biden four years ago, but believes Trump will win the November general election, in part due to support from Arab Americans.
“I'm not voting for Trump because I want Trump. I just don't want Biden,” Abdul-Rabbe said. “He (Biden) did not call for an end to the war in Gaza.”
Haley vowed to continue campaigning. This shows that a significant portion of Republican primary voters continue to support her despite President Trump's tightening grip on the Republican Party.
She also outraised President Trump's primary campaign committee by nearly $3 million in January. This means that some donors continue to focus on Haley despite her long-term prospects as an alternative candidate should Trump's legal problems jeopardize her chances of becoming a nominee. It shows that
Trump's two political committees raised just $13.8 million in January, and together they spent more than they took in, according to campaign finance reports released last week. Much of the money spent by Trump's political committees is millions of dollars in legal fees to finance his activities. Court precedent.
With nominal intraparty challengers, Biden could: focus on increasing his cash savings. The Biden campaign and the Democratic National Committee announced last week that they had raised $42 million in contributions from 422,000 donors in January.
The president ended the month with $130 million in cash, which campaign officials say is the most money raised by a Democratic candidate so far in the presidential cycle.
Republicans are also lining up behind Trump as the November election approaches, as he continues to be plagued by legal issues that keep him from campaigning. He has been charged with four separate cases, ranging from efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election he lost, to keeping classified documents after he took office, to allegedly arranging secret payments to adult film actors. is facing 91 criminal charges.
His first criminal trial was in a case involving hush money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels. Scheduled to start from March 25th In New York.
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Associated Press writers Meg Kinard in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Joey Cappelletti in Lansing, Michigan, and Jill Colvin in New York contributed to this report.
