DEARBORN, Mich. (AP) 鈥 President Joe Biden's campaign manager traveled to suburban Detroit on Friday, where many Arab Americans are enraged over the administration's Israel policy, and found a number of community leaders unwilling to meet with her 鈥 exposing a growing rift between the White House and key groups often otherwise loyal to Democrats in a critical swing state.
led a group of campaign advisers to the Dearborn area, as part of her ongoing effort to meet with core supporter groups around the country.
She spoke throughout the day with some Arab American community leaders. But Rodriguez's trip ended when a late afternoon meeting with Arab American leaders was canceled after everyone invited 鈥 between 10 and 15 people 鈥 declined to show up.
Other activists went beyond simply not showing up for Rodriguez, as leaders from 鈥淎bandon Biden,鈥 a movement discouraging voters from supporting the president in November, spoke to hundreds of people at a local mosque in anticipation of the campaign manager鈥檚 visit.
Both developments highlight the acute challenges the president's campaign faces as it tries to sure up support among Arab Americans, whose votes will be key in Michigan during November's election but who have turned on Biden given his full-throated support for Israel in its .
Community leaders said that Rodriguez originally came to Michigan planning a larger meeting with Arab Americans but settled for the series of smaller gatherings, including the one where no invitees ultimately showed up, because of pushback to the original plan. Assad I. Turfe, a deputy Wayne County executive, said he was tasked with coordinating the original meeting, but that it was abandoned due to lack of interest.
Turfe said he reached out to more than 10 Arab American and Muslim leaders after being contacted by the Biden campaign on Wednesday. The leaders then spoke with community members, Turfe said, who made it clear they did not want them meeting Rodriguez.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 believe that the Biden administration, at the senior top level, understands how big of a problem this is and how upset and angry the community is,鈥 Turfe said.
Fighting between has inflamed tensions between Jews and Muslims around the world. But it has had especially deep resonance in the Detroit area, which is home to several heavily Jewish suburbs and to Dearborn, the city with the country's largest concentration of Arab Americans.
Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud took to X, formerly Twitter, to sarcastically note Rodriguez鈥檚 trip while criticizing Biden for urging congressional approval of fighter jets to Turkey.
鈥淟ittle bit of advice 鈥 if you鈥檙e planning on sending campaign officials to convince the Arab American community on why they should vote for your candidate, don鈥檛 do it on the same day you announce selling fighter jets to the tyrants murdering our family members,鈥 .
The mayor鈥檚 office confirmed that he was invited to meet with Rodriguez but didn't accept. Two Democratic state representatives, Alabas Farhat and Abraham Aiyash, were also invited but unable to attend.
鈥淚t鈥檚 unrealistic to expect that political conversations will resecure our support for the president when only a ceasefire can truly reopen that door,鈥 Farhat said in a statement, referring to calls for .
Aiyash, the second-ranking Democrat in the Michigan House, said he鈥檚 reached out to Biden officials multiple times to discuss the escalating tensions in his state's Arab American community. He said he'd yet to hear from them, even as Chavez Rodriguez visited.
鈥淭he conclusion that I鈥檝e drawn from this is they don鈥檛 really see this as a legitimate problem," said Aiyash, who is also the state's highest-ranking Arab or Muslim leader. "And it鈥檚 disturbing at best and, at worst, it鈥檚 extremely dismissive and disrespectful.鈥
A person familiar with Rodriguez鈥檚 schedule, who spoke on condition of anonymity to share details that weren't made public, said the campaign manager held multiple meetings across suburban Detroit that have been in the works for weeks. They included talking with elected officials and leaders from the state鈥檚 Arab and Palestinian American, Hispanic and Black communities.
Osama Siblani, publisher of the Arab American News, met with Rodriguez at the paper鈥檚 Dearborn headquarters for an hour and a half and said it went 鈥渧ery well.鈥
While Siblani said he received pressure to cancel the meeting, he felt it was important because Rodriguez made the effort to come to the community and listen.
鈥淪he was very attentive, and she was listening. We looked each other in the eye and I told her exactly what鈥檚 going on,鈥 Siblani said. 鈥淎nd she said she would take it to the president.鈥
Still, the separate, larger meeting scheduled for late afternoon on Friday with Arab Americans saw everyone invited cancel, the person familiar with Rodriguez's schedule said.
Her trip was part of the Biden reelection campaign鈥檚 鈥 and the administration鈥檚 鈥 continuing dialogue with core constituency groups. Senior Biden campaign staffers have had similar meetings and roundtable discussions with such groups across the country and in key swing states since last fall, the person said.
But political tensions are running higher in Michigan than many other places 鈥 and the chilly reception Rodriguez received from many suggests a growing political headache for Biden in a key state.
鈥淧eople in the community, like community leaders, don鈥檛 want to meet with Mr. Biden,鈥 said Dawud Walid, the executive director of Michigan鈥檚 chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.
Imad Hamad, director of the American Human Rights Council in Dearborn, said that many community leaders were reluctant to meet with the Biden campaign unless it was to discuss 鈥減ractical steps that give the community a reason to reconsider.鈥
Hamad added that many in the community felt that Friday鈥檚 visit was more about political optics than achieving real understanding of activists concerns because 鈥渘one of the people who have been the most vocal were approached or invited鈥 to meet with Rodriguez and her team.
Meanwhile, hundreds gathered at the Islamic Center of Detroit for a Friday prayer service led by prominent civil rights activist Imam Omar Suleiman. Afterward, leaders of the 鈥淎bandon Biden鈥 movement spoke to the crowd.
Biden 鈥渉as lost the Muslim and Arab vote. 鈥淓very poll indicates that," Suleiman told The Associated Press. "And if you were to speak to any person in this mosque, you would hear the exact same thing,鈥
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Weissert reported from Washington.
