A Michigan mayor issued a warning to President Joe Biden regarding the 2024 election and how it relates to the Israel-Hamas war.
"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," Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud said on CNN's Inside Politics with Dana Bash on Tuesday afternoon. "What will [Biden] do to regain the trust and respect of the Arab American and broader Muslim American community?"
Newsweek reached out to Biden's campaign via email for comment.
Over 26,000 Palestinians have died since fighting broke out between Hamas militants and Israel on October 7, according to the Associated Press, citing the Gaza Health Ministry. Around 1,200 Israelis have died, the AP reported. Many progressive Democrats are urging Biden to call for a ceasefire; Biden and the U.S. government have supplied Israel with military and economic aid amid the war.
Hammoud's comments come shortly after he declined to meet with members of Biden's 2024 campaign, citing interest in calls for a ceasefire and not on the election.
"President Biden's national campaign manager was sent to Michigan to meet with a group of Arab and Muslim American leaders on Friday. I was invited to attend," Hammoud wrote in a series of posts on X, formerly Twitter.
"The lives of Palestinians are not measured in poll numbers. Their humanity demands action, not lip service. When elected officials view the atrocities in Gaza only as an electoral problem, they reduce our indescribable pain into a political calculation."
"Community engagement is powerful when it is used to shape policies that save lives - these conversations must be had with policy-makers, not campaign staff. I will not entertain conversations about elections while we watch a live-streamed genocide backed by our government," Hammoud added.
Hammoud further spoke about his decision not to meet with Biden's campaign on CNN, saying, "I don't think this is a moment for electoral politics."
"For us, this is an issue that demands action and not lip service," Hammoud said. "This is an issue that requires policymakers to come talk about taking a different course of action, and that's not a conversation you have with campaign staff."
"I think if you are going to send a delegation to Dearborn to meet with a collective group of Arab Americans and Muslim American leaders, that should most certainly be a senior policy-making team. For us, it's just dehumanizing when you send campaign staff, it sends a message that this is purely political," Hammoud said.
Hammoud also called on Biden to commit to the promises he made while campaigning for the 2020 election "about bringing decency back to the White House."
Update 1/30/24, 1:53 p.m. ET: This article was updated with additional information and to reflect that Newsweek reached out to the Biden campaign for comment.
Update 1/30/24, 2:57 p.m. ET: This article was updated with additional information.
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