President Joe Biden may have won Michigan's Democratic Primary on Tuesday night, but that didn't mean a significant portion didn't abandon him and selected "uncommitted" instead. With an estimated 98 percent of the vote in, Biden received 81.1 percent, while 13.3 percent went for "uncommitted." That 13.3 percent accounted for 101,049 votes, a far larger number than the goal of 10,000 votes that those organizing protest vote campaigns had set. On Wednesday afternoon, Decision Desk HQ even shared that an updated estimate shows "uncommitted" earned a delegate. Such an effort has come about as Muslims and Arab-Americans have taken issue with how the Biden administration has handled the Israel-Hamas conflict.
DDHQ Updated Estimate: Michigan Democratic Primary Delegates
— Decision Desk HQ (@DecisionDeskHQ) February 28, 2024
Joe Biden 108
Uncommitted 1
More: https://t.co/rsiy0L8z65
Since the race was called last night, results from Wayne County have come in. This is perhaps the one to watch, especially as it includes Dearborn, which has the the largest Muslim population in the country per capita.
With an estimated 91 percent of the county votes in, Biden has 78.2 percent support while the "uncommitted" category has 16.8 percent. If these numbers don't change much more beyond that, this means that the president performed worse here than in the state overall, and the protest vote performed better.
Recommended
Perhaps even more illustrative is a clip from CNN where John King read the results on air showing that in Dearborn specifically, just 23 percent voted for Biden, while 75 percent went "uncommitted."
As he read out how Biden received 1,141 votes and "uncommitted" received 3,703 votes, King noted "that's a wow." Besides that margin, Dearborn is also significant since "this is a place Biden carried big time in 2020," King continued, adding "this is key to his chances of defeating Trump in Michigan again."
CNN reports the first numbers out of Dearborn, Michigan, home to the largest population of Arab Americans in the state.
— The Recount (@therecount) February 28, 2024
Biden: 23%
Uncommitted: 75% pic.twitter.com/kJWRGsqci9
As mentioned in our coverage from Tuesday night, organizers from Abandon Biden were celebrating even before the polls were closed. "Abandon Biden Campaign Declares Victory in Michigan Primary Election, Results Point to Biden’s Loss in November" read one press release.
A press release from Wednesday morning detailing a change of events came off as particularly angry, despite this supposed victory. Included were all kinds of charges of how Biden's "policies reek of genocide," with the press release claiming that such "unprecedented support for 'uncommitted' in Michigan makes it clear that complicity in genocide isn’t up for debate."
The press release also noted that the support for the protest vote signals that "what awaits Biden in November isn’t a guaranteed victory." At least they got that much right.
There's more to come, too. "The #AbandonBiden campaign is just getting started. We will amplify our outrage, shouting louder against Biden's depraved stance until the last vote is cast on November 5th. This movement to drag the President and his administration into the light of accountability will spread to every corner of this nation," the press release went on to read, as a warning and pledge of sorts.
The press release also contained specific demands: "We demand justice, accountability, and an immediate halt to the U.S. machinery that funds, arms, and endorses the annihilation of the Palestinian people," it closed with.
Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib of the state's 12th Congressional District has also supported the "uncommitted" protest vote. Her sister, Layla Elabed, runs Listen to Michigan, The Washington Post pointed out in a Tuesday report.
"#AbandonBiden" has also been making the rounds on X, and the posts are quite reflective of the outrage some supporters of the effort feel, not merely towards Biden, but also Israel. There were plenty of trends on Tuesday and Wednesday to do with the primary, including "uncommitted" and "over 100,000."
The takeaways have not been kind to Biden. On Wednesday morning, Nick Arama from our sister site of RedState also pointed out that "Michigan Results Spell Big Trouble for Biden, Good News for Trump." As he noted:
It should also be noted that the turnout for Democrats was lower than for Republicans, with 1,110,373 voting in the Republican primary and 762,187. That might be affected by both crossover and low enthusiasm for Biden.
Another big number is the raw numbers for Trump and Biden. Trump got 756,134 and Biden got 617,925. as of this morning at 8 a.m. That's 139,000 more for Trump in Michigan. Trump's number was almost the same as all the Democratic votes combined.
This all spells big trouble for Joe Biden in the general election. While he might get the crossovers who voted for Haley back, if a substantial number of the 140,000+ people who wouldn't vote for him in the primary stay away as they might in the general election, that's the game right there.
Trump himself highlighted local media coverage to do with the "uncommitted" vote, with his campaign sending out an ICYMI press release on Wednesday afternoon highlighting coverage from the Detroit Free Press about how "'Uncommitted' trounces Biden in Dearborn presidential primary."
What's next for Biden? If he's, in fact, still the nominee come November, we can expect him to pull out all the stops to win, especially as it looks to be a close race between him and Trump. It's worth reminding, though, that Trump leads Biden in multiple swing states, including Michigan where RealClearPolling shows him with a lead of +4.2.
Before the votes were counted on Tuesday night, Matt highlighted the panic Michigan Democrats were in. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and retiring Sen. Debbie Stabenow have expressed their support for the president, while Tlaib's support for the protest vote certainly means Democrats are in disarray in the state.
Whitmer will also surely be pulling out the stops for Biden as November approaches. Tlaib would not tell CNN's Manu Raju whether she would support Biden in November, the correspondent revealed during a Tuesday night panel. She was all too excited to celebrate her "uncommitted" vote in the primary though.
Even before 10 p.m. on Tuesday night, the "uncommitted" vote was just at around 24,000, but still far more than the goal of 10,000 votes. To say that "the number is going to exceed what they thought it would be" puts it politely.
Uncommitted vote in Michigan — at 24K — already surpassing last three presidential election cycles on Dem side. And just 16 percent of vote in. Hearing from MI Dems who say Biden needs to pay more attention to state and the number is going to exceed what they thought it would be
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) February 28, 2024
Another development to watch out for is how Biden himself is received for any campaign stops he makes in Michigan. He's been not so well received in the past, as Matt has also covered.
The White House has signaled support for listening to more of what these activists have to say, as we learned from Tuesday's press briefing with NSC Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby. That could include support for one of the ferocious demands of a ceasefire, though Kirby couldn't quite speak to Biden's confusing timeline provided Monday while he was enjoying an ice cream cone in New York City. Kirby did still suggest support for a more permanent ceasefire during the briefing.
Kirby floats idea a six week ceasefire would turn into a permanent ceasefire
— Katie Pavlich (@KatiePavlich) February 27, 2024
Biden could abandon Israel or come close to it as part of a desperate ploy to win the election, and he could still lose thanks to those who claim what support he's dared to show doesn't make it enough of a "both sides" issue.
Conservative host Mark Levin perhaps illustrated it best in a post from Wednesday afternoon. In highlighting how "uncommitted" voters "are demanding that the Biden regime not only abandon Israel, but turn on Israel, which is exactly what Biden is doing in hopes of not losing battleground states like Michigan."
While the effort may be working in such a way, "these so-called 'uncommitted' Democrats, they will never be satisfied," Levin warned. "The fact is that they and their pressure campaign are not receiving the kind of media focus and exposure that they deserve. It is part of the effort in our colleges and universities, and the street 'protests,' that are filled with Jewish hatred and antisemitism." That, he argued, is "what this 'uncommitted' vote is all about."
The so-called "uncommitted" Democrats are largely Arab-Muslim Democrats who are demanding that the Biden regime not only abandon Israel, but turn on Israel, which is exactly what Biden is doing in hopes of not losing battleground states like Michigan. This is a pressure campaign…
— Mark R. Levin (@marklevinshow) February 28, 2024
Join the conversation as a VIP Member