WARREN, Michigan. President Joe Biden chatted with a friendly union crowd inside a United Auto Workers hall in Michigan on Thursday as pro-Palestinian protesters held back by police with riot shields expressed anger at the president’s full support for Israel in its war with Hamas.
The tension highlighted the challenges Biden faces in holding onto this critical state in November against likely rival Donald Trump, and underscored Democrats’ concerns about weakening enthusiasm among voters who have been key to their coalition.
Biden’s visit to auto workers making phone calls on his behalf ahead of the state’s Democratic primary came just days after union president Shawn Fain announced his endorsement. Fain praised Biden’s ties to the working class, saying, “We know who’s been there for the job and who hasn’t,” adding that the union’s mission now is to “keep Joe Biden as our president.”
Biden, who joined striking workers on the picket line last year, responded: “Supporting them is the easiest thing I have ever done in my life.”
However, Biden’s agenda in Michigan did not include any meetings with Arab Americans, adding to growing frustration over his support for Israel in its war with Hamas as the Palestinian death toll rises.
“Why not have a meaningful conversation about how to change course with a community that has first-hand accounts of what it’s like to live in the countries where decision-making takes place?” said Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud, one of The largest Arab American communities in the nation.
Although the White House offered no prior details about Biden’s planned meeting, about 200 pro-Palestinian protesters were waiting for Biden near the UAW Region 1 building in Warren ahead of his event there. The president’s entourage passed them through side streets.
Protesters chanted “Hello Biden, what are you saying? We will not vote on election day,” as well as pro-Palestinian slogans, including “Free Palestine, Free.”
Amir Naddaf, 34, traveled with friends from Ann Arbor to protest the president’s UAW event after supporting Biden in the 2020 election.
“We came here to send a clear message to the administration that they are not welcome in Michigan,” Naddaf said.
Dozens of police officers in riot gear and an armored vehicle prevented protesters from approaching the union hall.
More than 26,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have been killed in Gaza since Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, according to the Hamas-ruled territory’s Health Ministry. Hamas killed more than 1,200 people and kidnapped about 250 more, mostly civilians, in the attack.
Michigan has become increasingly Democratic in recent years, with the party controlling all levels of state government for the first time in four decades. Biden seeks to harness that power as he seeks re-election and the state’s critical 15 electoral votes.
The president does not face any serious challengers in the primary, but his campaign is trying to generate energy for the tougher fight ahead in the fall. Michigan was part of the so-called three-state blue wall – with Wisconsin and Pennsylvania – that Biden returned to the Democratic column when he won the White House in 2020.
He began his visit to Michigan by meeting with black religious leaders at the They Say restaurant in Harper Woods, outside Detroit, before thanking autoworkers for their support.
Warren, where Biden met with union workers, is in Macomb County, an area that Democrats lost by a wide margin to Trump in the last two national elections. Biden’s outreach to workers came amid concerns within the party about growing tension between Biden and Arab Americans in the state, many of them in Detroit’s Wayne County, which is the Democratic Party’s largest base. .
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters on Air Force One with Biden that senior administration officials will travel to Michigan in late February to hear from community leaders about the conflict in Israel and Loop. She did not specify which officials or who they would meet with.
The UAW’s initial endorsement was a clear victory for Biden, who came to Michigan to support striking auto workers last year. His latest meeting with union members comes on the heels of Trump’s visit to another of America’s most influential unions, the Teamsters, in Washington on Wednesday.
Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Mich., a longtime Biden ally, said Democrats must serve a multitude of congressional districts in Michigan to hold the state in 2024.
“Michigan is a purple state. I tell everyone,” she said. “Clearly, the Arab-American community matters. But young people have to go to the polls. Two years ago they were very decisive in voter turnout. Many union leaders have supported the president, but we have to get into the union halls. “And make the contrast so that people really understand what it is about. And we have to make sure that women and independents participate. You know, we’re a competitive state.”
Biden campaign manager Julie Chávez Rodríguez led a group of campaign advisers to the Dearborn area last week as part of her ongoing effort to meet with key groups of supporters across the country. She spoke with some community leaders, but the trip ended abruptly when Arab American leaders refused to attend a meeting with her.
Ahead of Biden’s visit, protesters held a community rally in Dearborn Wednesday night to protest the administration’s policies supporting Israel.
“People in the Middle Eastern community are not confused. They are very clear about how Palestine versus Israel has been handled,” said former Democratic state Rep. Sherry Gay-Dagnogo, who is from Detroit. “Just coming and visiting them without changing their positions is not going to move them. “We are not confused either. That is why visits cannot simply be made. One visit is not enough.”
Biden and his aides have said they do not want to see any civilians die in Hamas-ruled Gaza, and the United States is working to negotiate another ceasefire to allow critical aid to reach the territory.
During a visit to Tel Aviv in October, Biden warned Israelis not to become “consumed by rage.” But the president and his advisers have also said that he believes Israel has the right to defend itself and has asked Congress for billions to help Israel in its war effort.
On Thursday, during a National Prayer Breakfast in Washington before his trip, Biden spoke of the threat of Islamophobia and anti-Semitism.
“We not only pray for peace, but we are actively working for the peace, security and dignity of the Israeli people and the Palestinian people,” he said.
An AP-NORC poll from December found that 59% of Democrats approve of Biden’s approach to the conflict, up from 50% in November. But Democratic primary voters in New Hampshire were divided over how Biden has handled the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict, according to AP VoteCast.
___ AP writer Zeke Miller in Washington contributed to this report.