Activists in Dearborn, Michigan, who led a resistance movement in reaction to President Biden’s support for Israel, are not likely to easily return to the Democratic Party now that Biden has dropped out of the election race.
“Just because Biden has dropped out doesn’t mean the community will automatically support Harris,” said Samra Lukman, who has served as co-chair of a campaign to abandon Biden’s endorsement, offering his personal thoughts on the current state of the race. “Because Harris was part of the Biden administration, she will be tied to every policy he has ever implemented and every word he has said. She may have a $100 million war chest, but she also has his issues.”
Lukman’s comments came after Biden announced on social media on Sunday that he was withdrawing from the 2024 presidential race, a decision that came after weeks of growing pressure from Democratic colleagues to pass on the baton amid concerns about his physical and mental ability to continue campaigning.
Lukman said such a decision is cause for celebration in Dearborn, noting that she believes Biden’s unpopularity among local residents influenced the president’s decision.
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Vice President Kamala Harris speaks with reporters before boarding Air Force Two at Buffalo Niagara International Airport, May 28, 2022, in New York. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
The Detroit suburb of Dearborn, which has the largest Muslim population in the country, became a center of resistance to Biden in Michigan’s March primary, when more than 100,000 voters voted “independent” instead of supporting the president for reelection. Most of those who turned their backs on Biden in March were longtime Democratic supporters who voted for him in 2020, but Biden’s handling of the Gaza conflict pushed many in Dearborn over the edge.
“This is truly extraordinary and historic,” Lukman said of Biden’s decision to pull out, “and I want this to be recognized and given credit where credit is due. This is not because Biden performed badly in the debate, this is because his poll numbers are bad.”
Biden’s prospects in the polls continued to deteriorate in July, with most national polls showing him trailing former President Trump. To make matters worse for Biden, most polls also showed him trailing in nearly every key battleground state, including Michigan.
A new Detroit Free Press poll released just hours before Biden announced his decision found Biden trailing President Trump by seven points in the key battleground state of Michigan, a devastating lead in a state that is almost a must-win for Democrats.
Lukman believes the deficit is due to her community and that the path to victory is too difficult for Biden to continue campaigning.
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But Lukman made it clear that people in his community will not easily switch back to the Democratic Party, and many plan to support a third-party candidate or even Trump in November rather than Biden’s handpicked successor, Vice President Kamala Harris.
“There are a lot of people who are so furious about Biden that they reject the Democratic Party altogether. They’re saying they won’t vote for a Democratic candidate, even if it’s Harris,” Lukman said, adding that some community members will vote for Green Party candidate Jill Stein or “chose a Republican out of spite.”
A Detroit Free Press poll released just hours before Biden announced his decision showed him trailing President Trump by seven points in the key battleground state of Michigan. (Shawn Rayford/Getty Images)
“Twenty years ago, right after the Iraq War, we saw a shift in the Arab Muslim community as a whole, moving to the Democratic Party and staying there for 20 years,” Lukman added. “Now it seems like the pendulum is swinging back to the Republican Party.”
Abed Ayub, national executive director of the American-Arab Committee Against Discrimination, echoed similar sentiments, calling Biden’s decision to step down a welcome “relief” for Muslim communities in Dearborn and elsewhere.
But Ayub made it clear that the problem was not with “Biden himself,” but with his administration’s policies towards the Middle East and the world.
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“These are serious issues for the Arab community and how is Harris going to respond differently in this regard? How can she bring a difference to the narrative?” Ayub asked.
Ayub said many in the area will listen to what Harris has to say, but their support is not automatic, noting that both Stein and the Trump campaign have done a good job of reaching out to local voters.
President Biden speaks at a campaign event at Pullman Yard in Atlanta on March 9, 2024. (Megan Varner/Getty Images)
“This opens the door wide for Democrats to win back many of the voters lost to Biden,” Ayub said, noting that many would still support Stein and, ultimately, Trump.
“His influence now is much greater and much different than it was in 2016 or 2020,” Ayub said of Trump.
Stephen Starinsky, executive director of the Middle East Media Institute, told Fox News Digital that while it’s unlikely many of the activists who opposed Biden will support Harris, it’s also unlikely Dearborn and Muslim communities will see a major candidate who fits the profile they want.
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“I think most Arab and Muslim leaders and Muslim activists in Dearborn and Michigan have repeatedly maintained that Harris is not inferior to Biden and there is no difference between the two. Early statements suggest that they would reconsider their position if Harris were to become more anti-Israel and pro-Palestinian, including in her running mate selection,” Stalinsky said. “They celebrated Biden’s retirement announcement yesterday and are taking credit for his retirement. They also fail to realize that the average American is far more pro-Israel than their own vocal supporters in a handful of states. Moreover, they mistakenly believe that everyone who did not vote for Biden in the primary rejected him because he is pro-Israel.”
Stephen Starinsky, executive director of the Middle East Media Institute, told Fox News Digital that it was unlikely many of the activists who opposed Biden would support Harris. (Reuters/Hannah Beyer)
Meanwhile, Ayub noted that discontent with the Democrats’ process for nominating Biden’s successor has already begun among many in Muslim communities, arguing that allowing the president to choose his own successor would be “undemocratic.”
“They knew Biden was ill and then they went through the whole primary process and told him to step aside and run his own candidate,” Ayub said. “I’m outraged that this is happening and I think it’s important to point out that this is not a great candidate. This is not the democratically elected candidate of the Democratic Party.”
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