President Biden quickly cruised to victory in Minnesota, but was once again plagued by large numbers of defectors after tens of thousands of people marked themselves as “disloyal” on Super Tuesday.
With three-quarters of the total votes counted, 69.6% supported Biden, with 19.8% not voting. According to a table By Associated Press.
Frustrated progressive activists and groups have launched a campaign urging voters to mark themselves as “disloyal” in protest of Biden’s policies on the Israel-Hamas war.
This shows a continuation of Biden’s trend. Late last month, more than 100,000 Michiganders, or 13%, walked out of the Democratic primary to protest his policies in the Israel-Hamas war.
The Gopher State, which has a sizable liberal population in the Twin Cities, saw the biggest defections to Biden on Super Tuesday.
But activists are planning smaller uprisings against Biden in other places, including Washington state.
In addition to Minnesota, Biden also faced significant backlash in North Carolina on Super Tuesday. With 97% of the votes, he received 87.3% and “No Priority” received 12.7%.
Mr. Biden appealed to disgruntled progressives and toughened his rhetoric against Israel, calling retaliation against Hamas for the bloody Oct. 7, 2023, surprise attack “overreach.”
Vice President Kamala Harris called for a six-week cease-fire in a speech in Selma, Alabama, last weekend commemorating the 59th anniversary of Bloody Sunday.
“The people of Gaza are starving and living in inhumane conditions, and our common humanity demands action,” Harris said Sunday. “Given the immeasurable scale of suffering in Gaza, an immediate ceasefire for at least the next six weeks is necessary and is currently being considered.”
Biden wants to keep his coalition together in the run-up to the November election. Michigan, which has the largest Arab population of any state in the United States, supported former President Donald Trump in 2016 and switched to Biden in 2020.
The state is one of seven key battleground states that could determine the winner of the Nov. 5 election.
The Biden campaign has publicly downplayed concerns about Biden’s electoral prospects and lackluster poll numbers compared to Trump.
Mr. Biden’s allies argue that both Mr. Biden and Democrats generally fared better than expected in recent elections.
“Tonight’s results force Americans to make a clear choice: Will we continue to move forward, or will we allow Donald Trump to drag us into the chaos, division, and darkness that have defined his presidency?” Biden said in a statement after the Super Tuesday results poured in.
