Rashida Tlaib Refuses To Endorse Biden, Urges Constituents To Vote ‘Uncommitted’ in Michigan Primary

Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib is urging Michigan Democrats to vote “uncommitted” in her state’s presidential primary this year rather than support President Biden due to his support for Israel. Appearing at a Dearborn voting center, Ms. Tlaib says her constituents shouldn’t just march in the streets — they should be “louder” and directly stand up to the president.“Right now, we feel completely neglected and unseen by our government,” Ms. Tlaib says of Mr. Biden’s continued support for Prime Minister Netanyahu. “If you want us to be louder, then come here and vote ‘uncommitted.’”Video of the comments was posted by the new group Listen to Michigan, which is telling Democrats to show up to vote against the president in the Democratic primary, which takes place on February 27. “It is important, as you all know, to not only march against the genocide, not only make sure that we are calling our members of Congress and local electeds… It is also important to create a voting bloc — something that is a bullhorn to say that enough is enough,” Ms. Tlaib says.By voting uncommitted, Michigan Democrats could send a number of anti-Biden delegates to this year’s Democratic National Convention. The uncommitted campaign recently began spending on television advertising, including a new spot that highlights the death toll at Gaza. “We voted for you, President Biden,” the ad says. “But you’re funding the killing of our families in Gaza while ignoring our needs in Michigan.” The ad ends with a call for the president to “stop funding war crimes.”A former member of Congress from Michigan who has endorsed the uncommitted campaign, Andy Levin, said the Listen to Michigan campaign is being very “smart” in its tactics. He worries that if Mr. Biden does not change course in his support for Israel amid the war, then Democrats are at risk of losing key voting groups in the general election. “If you take out Arab-Americans, if you take out Muslims more broadly, if you take out voters of color more broadly, if you take out young voters — I don’t see how we can get there” in a general election, Mr. Levin said. “I am really strong for Joe Biden on November 5, but I actually think this is a really smart strategy.”“This will hopefully send him a message,” Mr. Levin says of the president. “He needs to step up and be a peacemaker.”The Biden campaign is nervous about their candidate’s general election prospects in Michigan, going so far as to send a delegation of campaign officials to the state in order to meet with Muslim and Arab-American leaders. One of the people in the room, state representative Abraham Aiyash, told the Associated Press that the two-hour meeting with the Biden campaign was “intense.” “I relayed the emotions and the concerns of our community, and we gave them tangible steps,” Mr. Aiyash said. “We want to see a permanent cease-fire. We want to be able to see restrictions and conditions on any military aid that is sent to Israel. And we want to see the United States take a serious commitment towards rebuilding Gaza.”The administration has also seemingly become aware of the political problems that Israel’s war poses for the president. In recent days, administration officials have leaked to the press that the president does not actually like Mr. Netanyahu, and has called him “an assh–” multiple times in private. Speaking to reporters after the release of Special Counsel Robert Hur’s report, Mr. Biden said that Israel’s response to Hamas’ October 7 attack was “over the top.”“I’ve been pushing really hard — really hard — to get humanitarian assistance into Gaza,” the president said. “A lot of innocent people are starving. A lot of innocent people are in trouble and dying. And it’s got to stop.”

Rashida Tlaib Refuses To Endorse Biden, Urges Constituents To Vote ‘Uncommitted’ in Michigan Primary

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