Abdullah Hammoud, the Democratic mayor of Dearborn, Michigan, issued an ultimatum to President Joe Biden in a Tuesday opinion piece in the New York Times.
Hammoud warned of the betrayal his constituents have felt over his handling of Israel's war with Hamas in Gaza. Dearborn is home to the largest Muslim population in the United States per capita.
Context
Biden is currently seeking reelection to a second term in the White House in the 2024 presidential race and is overwhelmingly likely to secure the Democratic nomination, having outperformed expectations for incumbent candidates in the party's primaries so far. Nevertheless, doubts about the president's electoral viability have persisted, owing to his consistently low approval ratings and concerns among voters about his advanced age.
Another more recent concern for the president has been the reaction amongst Muslim voters in the U.S. to his treatment of Israel. The country has been engaged in a heated conflict with the militant group Hamas since its October 7 attack that killed an estimated 1,200 Israelis. The Israeli military attacks in response have, according to the most recent estimates, killed an estimated 29,000 Palestinian civilians in Gaza, prompting an international backlash and calls for a ceasefire.
President Biden has largely remained supportive of Israel's campaign, offering only mild criticisms in public statements, despite insider reports claiming that he is increasingly frustrated with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Biden's continued support of Israel has led to a considerable drop in his polling with Muslim voters, with particular concerns mounting over his potential performance in Michigan, a key swing state with a notable Muslim population.
What We Know
In an opinion piece published by the New York Times on Tuesday, Dearborn Mayor Hammoud warned the president that his Muslim constituents have felt that their voices have not been heard.
"Until just a few months ago, I firmly believed that Joe Biden was one of the most consequential and transformative presidents that our nation had seen since Franklin Delano Roosevelt," Hammoud wrote. "His administration managed to put in place groundbreaking domestic policies in the last three years that his predecessors couldn't manage even in two terms. But no amount of landmark legislation can outweigh the more than 100,000 people killed, wounded, or missing in Gaza. The scales of justice will not allow it.
"President Biden is proving many of our worst fears about our government true: that regardless of how loud your voice may be, how many calls to government officials you may make, how many peaceful protests you organize and attend, nothing will change. My greatest fear is that Mr. Biden will not be remembered as the president who saved American democracy in 2020, but rather as the president who sacrificed it for Benjamin Netanyahu in 2024."
Hammoud further called the deaths of civilians in Gaza a "genocide," and said that he plans to vote "uncommitted" in the state's forthcoming Democratic primary, in the hope that Biden "will listen."
Newsweek reached out to the White House via email on Tuesday for comment. Any responses received will be added in a later update.
Views
The Tuesday piece was not the first time that Hammoud has spoken out about the impact of Biden's Israel policies on voters in his city. In January, he appeared on CNN's Inside Politics and warned his fellow Democrats about the potential loss of Muslim voters going forward.
"Democrats nationally need to reckon with the question of what does it mean for them to potentially lose thousands of voters on the response to this human rights issue and what are they going to do about it," Hammoud said at the time. "What will [Biden] do to regain the trust and respect of the Arab American and broader Muslim American community?"
Representative Rashida Tlaib, a Michigan Democrat, also stirred up controversy on the left after she recently urged voters in her state to choose "uncommitted" in the forthcoming primary in response to Biden's handling of Isreal.
What Comes Next
The Michigan Democratic primary is set to take place next week on February 27. The only other challenger on the ballot is Democratic Representative Dean Phillips of Minnesota, whose primary bid has failed to gain any traction thus far. According to polls collected by FiveThirtyEight, Biden has remained heavily favored to win the primary since last summer.
Update 2/20/24 1:45 p.m. ET: This article was updated with additional information.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Thomas Kika is a Newsweek weekend reporter based in upstate New York. His focus is reporting on crime and national ... Read more
