A delegation of top Biden administration officials plans to meet with Muslim and Arab American community leaders in Michigan on Thursday, a day after dozens of state officials announced plans to vote “non-pledged” in the state’s upcoming Democratic primary. .
The Detroit meeting comes as hostility toward President Biden grows among Muslim and Arab Americans — a sizable voting bloc in the Great Lake State — over his support for Israel’s war against Hamas terrorists.
Tom Pérez, senior advisor and director of the Office of Intergovernmental Affairs; Samantha Power, administrator of the United States Agency for International Development; Jon Finer, deputy principal national security advisor; Mazen Basraw, director of global partnerships and engagement at the National Security Council; Steve Benjamin, senior advisor to the president and director of the Office of Public Engagement; Jamie Citron, principal deputy director of the Office of Public Engagement; and Dan Koh, director of the Office of Intergovernmental Affairs, will be among the Biden administration officials participating in the White House-led effort, according to multiple outlets.
USAID Director Samantha Power will be among the Biden administration officials traveling to Michigan. REUTERS Deputy National Security Advisor Jon Finer is also traveling. AP
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre mocked the forum last week when the 81-year-old commander in chief traveled to Michigan to meet with union autoworkers, telling reporters that officials plan to “listen directly to community leaders in a variety of fields. of issues that are important to them and their families, including the conflict in Israel and… and Gaza.”
About a dozen Michigan Muslim and Arab American elected officials, officials and community leaders declined to meet with Biden campaign manager Julie Chávez Rodríguez last month after the planned summit sparked “outrage” in the community, and Some invited attendees against Israeli military action in Gaza expressed their disapproval. that campaign officials were sent to the state rather than policymakers.
Tom Perez, director of the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs, was previously chairman of the Democratic National Committee. William Farrington Steve Benjamin serves as a senior adviser to Biden and is director of the White House Office of Public Engagement. Shutterstock
Dearborn Mayor Abdullah H. Hammoud, one of the officials who refused to meet with the Biden campaign last month, revealed Wednesday that he has signed a commitment cast a “non-committed vote” in the Feb. 27 Democratic presidential primary in Michigan over Biden’s “destructive decision-making” regarding the war between Israel and Hamas.
“Under the leadership of President Joe Biden, our government has failed to act to protect the lives of innocent men, women and children,” Hammoud said in an X post. “Worse, President Biden and his administration have suggested that there is a exception to this rule when it comes to Palestinian lives.”
“There continues to be destructive decision-making: eliminating funding for [the United Nations Relief and Works Agency], the agency responsible for supporting millions of refugees suffering from famine and starvation; and the continued support of billions in unrestricted dollars from American taxpayers to Benjamin Netanyahu and the genocidal campaign of his radical government.”
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The Palestinian death toll in roughly four months of war has reached 27,478, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry. The ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count, but says the majority of those killed have been women and children.
“We demand a better future and we intend to make our voice heard on February 27,” Hammoud said. “I encourage you to join me in taking the pledge to vote ‘Not Pledged’ in the upcoming presidential primary election.”
The pledge, organized by “multiracial and multifaith, anti-war” individuals under the slogan “Listen to Michigan,” has so far been signed by 34 state and local officials.
He calls the “current tragedy in Gaza” an “affront to our shared humanity” and demands an “immediate call for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza” from the Biden administration.
Support for President Biden among Muslim and Arab Americans has plummeted since Israel’s declaration of war against Hamas. AFP via Getty Images
Biden’s support among Arab Americans has collapsed in the wake of his support for Israel in its war against Hamas, the terrorist group that massacred about 1,200 people in the Jewish state and kidnapped about 240 on October 7, 2023.
Only 17.4% of Arab American voters said they would vote for Biden in 2024, according to a John Zogby Strategies poll commissioned by the Arab American Institute last October.
In 2020, the same poll measured Arab-American support for Biden at 59%.
The White House and Biden’s campaign did not respond to The Post’s requests for comment.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn