The primary elections in Michigan, an important test for candidates Biden and Trump

2024-02-27 18:30:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

The primary elections in Michigan, an important test for candidates Biden and

While Joe Biden and Donald Trump continue to win in intra-party races, the primary election being held today (Tuesday) in Michigan could reveal major weaknesses for both. Former President Trump is facing a bloc of persistent Republican voters who favor his rival Nikki Haley, or who are simply not convinced that he can win in a rematch with President Biden. The latter, in Michigan, faces great opposition from Arab voters disappointed by President Biden's support for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

President Biden appeared relaxed during a campaign event in New York on Monday evening.

"I have money with me, does anyone want ice cream?" It's not a bribe", he joked to the journalists.

But more than 1,200 kilometers from New York, a few hours later, the ballot boxes opened for internal party elections in a state that could highlight Mr. Biden's weaknesses for the presidential election.

The anger of Arab voters in Michigan over unreserved support for Israel could affect Mr. Biden's general election campaign.

Adam Abusalah, a 23-year-old Palestinian-American, went door-to-door in his neighborhood in Dearborn, Michigan, during the 2020 campaign, campaigning for President Joe Biden. Now, he actively campaigns against the President. He can often be seen driving around protests in a van with the slogan 'Joe the Genocide', a slogan used by Arab-Americans who accuse the President of supporting what they call the Israeli genocide in Gaza.

"Seventy-five percent of Muslims in Michigan voted for Biden. Now, he is sending more bombs, more weapons to bomb innocent Palestinian children, women and men. So we are disgusted," he says.

President Biden admitted during an interview to a local Michigan radio station that this state is one of the five states that would determine the winner of the presidential election.

Political analyst in Michigan, Dave Dulio says that the movement of Arab voters against Mr. Biden has its epicenter in the city of Dearborn in this state. Mr. Biden won Michigan in 2020 by just three points over Mr. Trump. Nearly half of Dearborn's approximately 110,000 residents say they are of Arab descent.

"This is a protest vote to let the president know that there are voters who hope and many of them are behind this idea that he should change his policy, between Israel and the war in Gaza," says analyst Dulio.

In the Republican camp, candidate Donald Trump also faces uncertainty about his prospects for victory in the Nov. 5 presidential election, despite back-to-back primary wins so far.

On February 25, Mr. Trump won the primary race in South Carolina, defeating the only remaining rival in the state, Nikki Haley.

After the victory, Mr. Trump spoke confidently of victory on November 5.

"On November 5, we will look Joe Biden, who is destroying our country, straight in the eye, and we will tell him, Joe, you are fired."

His voters are predominantly white, most of them over 50 and generally without a college education. These are not the demographic characteristics of the electorate he is likely to face in November, when he will need to secure support from other groups of voters, including those who continue to vote for Ms Haley.

"The Republican Party is completely divided. "You can't win the general election if you don't accept that 40 percent of Republicans say they don't want Donald Trump as the nominee," Ms. Haley said Monday night in Michigan as she continued her campaign.

The Associated Press agency surveyed thousands of Republican voters from caucuses in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina.

According to the results of these surveys, some of Mr. Trump's weaknesses are already showing. At least 2 in 10 primary voters in South Carolina and Iowa said they would not support Mr Trump in November, while 3 in 10 voters in New Hampshire shared the same view.

Mr. Trump won the affluent districts of Iowa and New Hampshire, where most voters live, by a narrow margin.

But these are just some of the challenges Mr. Trump will face in the coming months — in these states, a quarter, or nearly 4 in 10 Republican voters, say he has broken the law on one or more occasions that is being accused./ VOA