President Joe Biden was whisked away by his team from members of the press after refusing to take questions during a campaign stop in the swing state of Michigan.
During his March 14 visit to a historic mansion in the city of Saginaw, known for selecting the statewide winner in every election since 1992, Biden was seen on the porch with his back facing reporters but could be heard asking, “Can I take a couple questions?” After a woman in a Biden-Harris jacket said, “We’re going to take a few questions,” members of his staff raised their arms, walked toward the crowd, and said, “Thank you, press, back to the cars,” repeatedly.
While on his second stop to Pleasant View , a public golf course, reporters were banned from entry. The president also allegedly ignored a question about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on his way in. But once inside, he met with executive director of the Saginaw County Community Action Center, Hurley Coleman III, and his 13-year-old son.
Campaign officials defended the president, saying the oversight wasn’t intentional and that reporters were not able to hear the president’s remarks because of a logistical issue.
Other members of the community were also hoping to have some questions answered. Members of Saginaw’s Arab American and Muslim communities are disappointed Biden has yet to meet with them after visiting the state twice in 2024. With rising protests on Israel’s military action in Gaza, supporters feel they are owed an explanation .
“I voted for Biden; I had a Biden sign in my front yard, actually. And I am now the co-chair of the Abandon Biden campaign,” Khalid Turaani said, according to NBC News.
“I think Joe Biden’s total failure to address the humanitarian crisis, the genocide that is going on in Gaza, is really a war crime. I mean, it really is a war crime. In a perfect world, I think Joe Biden will be among Benjamin Netanyahu in The Hague.”
Protests from the “Abandon Biden” movement took place in Saginaw at the time of Biden’s visit. During a press conference at the town’s center, the group pressured Biden to support a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war. Some organizers think too much violence has already occurred under his leadership and don’t know if they will support him in the November election .
Michigan had been a stable blue state since the 1990s, but it shifted in 2016, when former President Donald Trump became the first GOP candidate to win the state since 1988.
Biden won the state in 2020 by a comfortable margin, but that could change. A new poll from Quinnipiac University shows Trump leading President Biden by three points (48% to 45%) in Michigan. The poll, conducted days after Biden’s State of the Union address, found support for the former president grew five points when Michigan respondents were asked about a hypothetical race with five candidates, including Independent candidates Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Cornel West, and Green Party candidate Jill Stein.
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