Last night, former President Donald Trump and sitting President Joe Biden won their respective parties’ primary elections in Michigan last night, getting one step closer to securing their party nomination. But Biden is facing a growing a problem: tens of thousands of Democrats are choosing to vote “uncommitted” in the primaries to signal their dissatisfaction with him over his support for Israel in its war with Hamas.
As Valuetainment previously reported, this effort is largely being led by operatives from a Bernie Sanders political action committee (PAC) working in tandem with the sister of Ilhan Omar, Layla Elabed. By showing they won’t commit to Biden in the primary, these voters are signaling that they might sit out the general election. The New York Times reported about 101,000 voters selected “uncommitted” at the ballot box, compared to Biden’s 618,000.
Campaigners aimed for 10,000 voting 'Uncommitted' in Michigan's Democratic primary in protest at Israel's genocidal onslaught against Gaza.
The end result?
Over 100,000 voted ''Uncommitted'. pic.twitter.com/fPdY6lENBX
— Owen Jones (@owenjonesjourno) February 28, 2024
Their relatively low numbers are deceiving, as they have far eclipsed the 10,000-vote margin that caused Trump to win Michigan—a crucial swing state—in 2016.
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Biden appeared on Late Night with Seth Meyers on Sunday, telling NBC audiences that support for Israel is a position he is deeply committed to. “You need not be a Jew to be a Zionist,” he said, “I’m a Zionist. Where there’s no Israel, there’s not a Jew in the world to be safe.” After the taping, the press followed him and Meyers to an ice cream parlor where Biden boldly proclaimed there would be a ceasefire in Gaza by the end of this week. He later had to eat his comment, as Netanyahu and other Israeli officials denied this claim entirely.
Donald Trump won the primary election in Michigan last night, defeating Nikki Haley for the seventh time in a row. Despite this—and her defeat on Saturday in her home state of South Carolina—Haley has vowed to stay in the race.
However, Haley’s wealthy backers, such as Reid Hoffman and as of two days ago the Koch Brothers, have abandoned her. She has to begin shoring up funds to withstand the next few primaries, meaning less advertisements and more desperate fundraising pleas. Her goal is to make it to Super Tuesday, when fifteen states and one territory will vote on March 5th.
Haley performed best among voters from college towns like Ann Arbor as well as suburbs near Detroit and Grand Rapids—voting blocs that Trump has always suffered with. Haley is also riding the wave of hesitancy among some Republicans over the various litigative efforts against Trump. They either believe he is guilty of the alleged crimes, or believe a different a candidate should be supported to ensure a Republican victory no matter what in 2024.
Shane Devine is a writer covering politics, economics, and culture for Valuetainment. Follow Shane on X (Twitter).
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