Michigan Arab American and Muslim leaders urging community to vote against Joe Biden in primary
(CBS DETROIT) - Leaders within the Arab American and Muslim communities in Michigan are pushing voters to not cast their vote for President Joe Biden in the upcoming presidential primary.
"We're going to continue to abandon Biden no matter what," said Samraa Luqman, who serves as the chair of the Abandon Biden Campaign in Michigan. "For me, the only way I would vote for him is if he pulled a Jesus and resurrected all those dead children and civilian civilians."
Luqman says she used to be a staunch Democrat but has been disillusioned with the party and is encouraging people to vote uncommitted in next week's primary.
"We've lived through a Muslim ban, but Palestinian children have not lived through Joe Biden," Luqman said. "So we're okay with going through those four years of hell once again, so long as the genocide stops. So long as the person that has committed the genocide is ousted from office, and hopefully, that will send a signal to the next administration."
According to 2020 Census data, there are more than 310,000 Middle Eastern and North African Michiganders, which is about 3.1% of Michigan's population. As a voting block, they could certainly make an impact.
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"We show that we have the power, then what do we do? Whether it's Biden or Trump, we've lost, and what we do now affects us in 2028," said Hassan Chami. "I'm not advocating a vote for Trump. But since we've already lost 2024, do you just vote for Trump? And just show them that Democrats, you've you guys have made a severe mistake, a grave mistake. And now Trump becomes Trump wins Michigan. And they see that if the Muslims did vote for the Democrats, they clearly could have won Michigan."
Michigan's presidential primary is on Tuesday, Feb. 27 - the final stop on the campaign trail before Super Tuesday, when the greatest number of states hold their presidential primaries on the same day.