SAGINAW, Mich. (AP) — President Joe Biden headed to Michigan last week to boost his support with Black voters and hedge against the growing opposition that the White House’s staunch support for Israel has sparked with Muslims in the critical swing state.
But some African American leaders now say they feel alienated after Biden failed to meet with more leading Black community members when visiting Saginaw, the city northwest of Detroit that has become Michigan’s premier political bellwether and where 46% of the residents are Black.
Organizers familiar with the trip plans said that one of several original proposed sites for the president to visit was a Black church. The idea was to find a venue where union workers, Black community leaders, college students, and supporters from other key constituencies could head out after the event and knock on doors for Biden.
The president ultimately went to the front porch of two local leaders, who are both white, then met with a Black family at a public golf course.
Hurley Coleman Jr., a prominent Saginaw pastor and staunch Biden supporter whose son and grandson met Biden at the golf course, called the trip a “missed opportunity” for the president’s campaign to engage with the community in a way that was “real as opposed to what we saw.”
“I can’t escape the reality of what was initially anticipated didn’t happen,” said Coleman Jr. “And what was initially anticipated really needs to happen. And sooner rather than later.”
Any slights could loom large in what is a precarious political moment for Biden, with some allies already concerned about anger in Michigan’s sizable Arab American community over Israel’s war in Gaza. Biden’s support among Black adults has sharply fallen since the start of his presidency and former President Donald Trump’s campaign believes it can flip parts of the core Democratic constituency in November’s election.
Biden was…
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