With less than six months to go before the November general election, the presidential contest appears neck-and-neck. Current polls indicate that Donald Trump holds a slight lead of 1 percent over Joe Biden, suggesting nearly equal voter support nationwide. As the election approaches, both President Biden and Trump, the likely Republican nominee, are turning their attention to critical battleground states. Trump currently leads in these key swing states.
A trend that started in Michigan has only gotten worse for Team Biden
Trump’s advantage in swing states stems from the shifting allegiances of several important voter groups traditionally loyal to Democrats. Notably, early this year, concerns were raised by Black, Arab, and Muslim voters in Michigan, who criticized the Biden administration’s support for Israel during the Gaza attacks. This discontent has only deepened, helping Trump to extend his lead.
Regaining the confidence of these crucial voter groups will be a formidable, costly challenge for Biden’s team. While focusing on seven battleground states, Biden’s campaign must also address pressing issues, such as achieving a lasting ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. Recently, Biden visited Georgia—a state he narrowly won in 2020—in an effort to secure its vote again, receiving mixed reviews from political analysts and attendees at his events.
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Students protested Biden’s visit in Georgia
A New York Times article reported that during President Joe Biden’s commencement speech at Morehouse College, a number of students protested. These protests took place on Sunday, May 19, coinciding with Biden receiving an honorary degree from the historically Black institution. While some Morehouse alumni welcomed President Biden with a standing ovation, a group of graduates expressed their dissent by turning their chairs away from him and donning keffiyeh scarves and Palestinian flags. Additionally, other students opted to walk out of the graduation ceremony, signaling their disapproval of Morehouse’s decision to invite President Biden as the commencement speaker and to award him an honorary doctorate.
“I support peaceful nonviolent protest,” Biden told students in his speech. “Your voices should be heard, and I promise you I hear them.” He also said he is “working around the clock” for an immediate ceasefire.
At the conclusion of Biden’s commencement address, people in the VIP section shouted, “Four more years.”
Demands for not to award Biden with an honorary degree
In a letter to Morehouse officials, Dr. Marlon Millner, a Morehouse alum, asked that the school “not award [an] honorary degree to someone morally complicit in a war in Gaza.”
“[Morehouse alumni Martin Luther King Jr.] challenged a historically courageous [Lyndon B. Johnson] on Vietnam after the Civil Rights Act and Voting Rights Act. That’s moral courage, not moral complicity or moral complacency,” Millner wrote. “Morehouse does produce businessmen, but let’s not fail to produce better men. Morehouse does produce politicians, but let’s not fail to produce men of principle. This is a defining moment where actions, not accolades will matter.”
Before President Biden’s commencement address at Morehouse, the valedictorian, DeAngelo Fletcher, spoke to the graduating class, advocating for an “immediate and permanent ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.” Reports indicate that Fletcher’s speech was well-received, earning applause from the audience and President Biden, who also shook his hand.
Biden ripped online
Paul A. Szypula on X, formerly known as Twitter, shared a clip from President Biden’s speech in Georgia over the weekend, in which he discussed democracy and its relationship with the rights of Black Americans.
“Joe Biden just told graduates at Morehouse College in Georgia that America hates them because they’re black,” the X user commented above the short clip. “This divisive rhetoric is exactly why Biden is losing support of the black community,” the user concluded.
Joe Biden just told graduates at Morehouse College in Georgia that America hates them because they’re black.
This divisive rhetoric is exactly why Biden is losing support of the black community.pic.twitter.com/XmmGubCSVp
— Paul A. Szypula 🇺🇸 (@Bubblebathgirl) May 19, 2024
Most to those who commented on the clip agreed with it.
“Good lord. The crowd knew this was pandering c*ap. The applause was very thin. Embarrassing,” one user commented. “Democrats are obsessed with race. It’s how they pick sides and divide us,” another user added.
Good lord. The crowd knew this was pandering crap. The applause was very thin. Embarrassing
— TriggerSafe (@TriggerSafeLLC) May 19, 2024
“Race baiting, race pandering, brazen pursuit of divisiveness…. this is extremely disrespectful, undignified…. shameful,” a user that goes by the name @Bill_StebbinsJR commented. “And you hear it in the half-hearted, flaccid “applause”….,” he added in the post.
Race baiting, race pandering, brazen pursuit of divisiveness…. this is extremely disrespectful, undignified…. shameful.
And you hear it in the half-hearted, flaccid "applause"….
— Bill Stebbins (@Bill_StebbinsJR) May 19, 2024
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“Not a very hearty applause after that ridiculous statement. It doesn’t appear that they are buying into the lies anymore,” @Defenestrate123 also commented. “5 people clapped. They don’t buy it anymore,” another user concluded.
5 people clapped. They don’t buy it anymore
— Amy (@sweetamy999) May 19, 2024
