On Monday President Biden announced on a Michigan radio station that the state is "one of the five states" that would determine a winner in November, reports the Associated Press.
This combination of pictures created on September 29, 2020 shows Democratic Presidential candidate and former US Vice President Joe Biden (L) and US President Donald Trump speaking during the first presidential debate at the Case Western Reserve University and Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio on September 29, 2020.
More than 310,000 residents of the state are of Middle Eastern or North African ancestry. Additionally, nearly half of them are living in Dearborn, Michigan where 110,000 residents claim Arab ancestry.
Michigan has been a hotbed of Democratic discontent with how the White House has been dealing with the Israeli-Hamas war. Current estimates are that Israel has killed nearly 30,000 Palestinians in its fight against Hamas. Most of them have been women and children, according to figures provided by the Hamas-run Health Ministry.
One of the primary criticisms against Biden is that he supported the Israeli ground offensive and that he resisted calls for a ceasefire for too long before finally relenting. Members of the "uncommitted" group of Democrats wish for voters to select that category during the primary in protest of how the Biden administration has dealt with this international crisis. Many believe he has been too supportive of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The efforts have been backed by Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib, the first Palestinian-American woman in Congress, and former Rep. Andy Levin, who lost a Democratic primary two years ago after pro-Israel groups spent more than $4 million to defeat him.
But What About Donald Trump
Although Donald Trump is dominating in his bid to gain the GOP nomination for president, there are still a significant number of Michigan Republicans who favor Nikki Haley, his lone remaining GOP opposition.
Some are also skeptical that Trump will be able to defeat Joe Biden in an election. Both Biden's record on Israel-Hamas and Donald Trump's perceived inability to defeat Biden, as well as looming legal issues, will all be put to the test during the Michigan primaries.
Michigan is the last major primary state before Super Tuesday and will also be a critical swing state in November during the general election. Biden only won the state by 3 percentage points during the last election.
