U.S. President Joe Biden will visit autoworkers in Michigan on Thursday, where he is likely to face protests over his handling of the war in Gaza, after several leaders of the state's Arab-American community declined to meet his campaign team last week.
Biden's travel to the election battleground state was intended as a celebration after the United Auto Workers (UAW) union recently endorsed his reelection bid. But his trip may be overshadowed by opposition from the state's Arab-American and Muslim population, which is upset the president has not called for a ceasefire in the Israel-Gaza conflict.
The Biden campaign has kept details of the president's visit private in the face of expected protests. Across the Detroit area, hundreds of protesters were standing by in cars and vans armed with blue and white "Abandon Biden" signs and Palestinian flags to rush to whichever UAW local Biden will visit.
"We're ready to go. I have my megaphone in the car," said Farah Khan, a Pakistani-American who voted for Biden in 2020 but now supports the Abandon Biden campaign in Michigan, told Reuters. "We have 92 Abandon Biden chapters across the country. This is bigger than just Michigan."
Before heading to Michigan, Biden attended the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington. He said he was working to resolve the Israel-Hamas conflict, including a two-state solution for Palestinians and bringing home the hostages still held following Hamas's Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel.
"We are actively working for peace," he said at the breakfast.
UNION BACKING
In the Detroit area, Biden will meet with UAW President Shawn Fain, who last week gave a full-throated endorsement of the Democratic incumbent and a sharp rebuke of Republican frontrunner Donald Trump.
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