In a statement released last night, Mr Biden said: “It was Michigan’s diverse coalition that came together to reject Donald Trump’s MAGA [Make American Great Again] extremism and sent me and Kamala to the White House.”
However, a prominent Democrat warned that the president’s coalition was fragmenting just months away from the presidential election.
Pramila Jayapal, who leads the House of Representatives’ progressive caucus, said Mr Biden had a “little” time to rebuild his support base, but called for a dramatic shift in his stance on Israel.
“The war on Gaza is a deep moral issue and the lack of attention and empathy for this perspective from the administration is breaking apart the fragile coalition we built to elect Joe Biden,” she said.
“It has to be a dramatic policy and rhetorical shift from the president on this issue and a new strategy to rebuild a real partnership with progressives in multiple communities who are absolutely key to winning the election.”
Mr Biden has historically been a close ally of Israel and has referred to himself as a “Zionist”, but has been pushing hard for a ceasefire in Gaza in recent weeks.
White House ultimatum to Netanyahu
As the civilian death toll spirals into the tens of thousands, his relationship with Benjamin Netanyahu has deteriorated – with the US president reportedly referring to his Israeli counterpart as an “asshole”.
The White House is said to have told Mr Netanyahu to conclude his military action before November, fearing it could produce damaging headlines ahead of the election.
The “uncommitted” movement had set a modest goal of winning 10,000 votes, the margin by which Mr Trump won Michigan four years ago. Having won 10 times that number, it urged the president to stop funding “the bombs falling on the family members of people who live right here in Michigan”.
“Our movement emerged victorious tonight and massively surpassed our expectations,” the group said in a statement. “Tens of thousands of Michigan Democrats, many of whom … voted for Biden in 2020, are uncommitted to his re-election due to the war in Gaza.”
