Legislative Detroit Caucus signs letter of ‘unwavering support’ for Biden

Michigan House Speaker Joe Tate (D-Detroit) speaks to reporters in Lansing following Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's State of the State address on Jan. 24, 2024. (Photo by Andrew Roth)

As President Biden is set to campaign in Detroit Friday, he is being met with solid support from a key constituency.

Fourteen Democrats, who are all part of the Michigan Legislative Detroit Caucus, signed onto a letter Thursday expressing “unwavering support for President Joe Biden” as the Democratic nominee.

Among those who signed was state Rep. Laurie Pohutsky (D-Livonia).

“I was happy to sign on because the letter emphasizes the importance of supporting President Biden and reminds us of exactly who his opponent is. President Biden has been a true leader and I trust him to lead our country for four more years. I fear that four more years of Donald Trump would not leave us with much of a country at all. The choice is clear,” Pohutsky told the Michigan Advance .

The members, who include House Speaker Joe Tate (D-Detroit), all represent districts that cover portions of Detroit, and said Biden had demonstrated a “steadfast commitment” to addressing critical issues for their constituents.

“From his work to improve economic opportunities through the American Rescue Plan, which has helped countless Black families recover from the pandemic, to his initiatives in criminal justice reform, education, and health care, President Biden’s administration has consistently prioritized policies that uplift our communities,” said the letter, which noted, among other things, capping insulin prices at $35 per month for 2 million Michiganders, “significantly benefiting Black Americans who disproportionately suffer from diabetes,” and lowering health care premiums.

Also signing the letter were state Reps. Tyrone Carter (D-Detroit), Kimberly Edwards (D-Eastpointe), Michael McFall (D-Hazel Park), Donovan McKinney (D-Detroit), Natalie Price (D-Berkley), Helena Scott (D-Detroit), Regina Weiss (D-Oak Park), Mai Xiong (D-Warren) and Stephanie Young (D-Detroit). Three state senators signed as well: Mary Cavanagh (D-Redford Twp.), Stephanie Chang (D-Detroit) and Sylvia Santana (D-Detroit).

There were eight Democrats whose districts include Detroit who didn’t sign the letter: Reps. Abraham Aiyash (D-Hamtramck), Alabas Farhat (D-Dearborn) and Karen Whitsett (D-Detroit), along with Sens. Erika Geiss (D-Taylor), Veronica Klinefelt (D-Eastpointe), Mallory McMorrow (D-Royal Oak), Jeremy Moss (D-Southfield) and Paul Wojno (D-Warren).

The letter was issued a day before the 81-year-old Biden plans to hold a campaign rally in Detroit Friday, marking his fourth visit to Michigan, most recently when he spoke in May at the Detroit NAACP’s 69th annual Fight for Freedom Fund Dinner.

Detroit is a key focus of the Biden reelection campaign as it looks to quell growing doubts among Democrats nationwide that the president is the best person to defeat former President Donald Trump in November.

Those doubts came center stage following Biden’s poor performance at the June 27 debate with Trump, and have only increased as the media spotlight has generally glared on Biden’s cognitive abilities, but less so on similar questions about Trump.

Michigan Gov. Whitmer, who has remained a strong supporter of Biden, even told CNN she didn’t “think it would hurt” when asked if Biden and Trump should each take a cognitive test.

But the fears of Biden’s candidacy potentially taking down other elected Democrats remain, prompting one member of Michigan’s congressional delegation, U.S. Rep. Hillary Scholten (D-Grand Rapids) to publicly call for Biden to step aside on Thursday, as did state Rep. Phil Skaggs (D-East Grand Rapids) on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the Associated Press has reported that a memo it obtained from the Biden campaign states that the best path forward to victory in November remains by winning the so-called “blue wall” states of Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

“There is also no indication that anyone else would outperform the president vs. Trump,” the AP quoted Biden campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon and campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez as saying in the memo.

Biden camp works to stem growing Democratic unease over reelection prospects

The memo further sought to cast doubt on the accuracy on the “hypothetical polling of alternative nominees,” calling it unreliable as those surveys “do not take into account the negative media environment that any Democratic nominee will encounter.” Dillon and Rodriguez reportedly argue that aspect is “already baked in” to Biden’s candidacy.

So far, Biden himself has rejected calls to step aside, telling reporters at a Thursday night press conference he was “best qualified to govern and … the best qualified to win.

“There are other people who could beat Trump, too, but it’s awful hard to start from scratch,” he added.

In its letter, the Detroit Caucus members also slammed Trump as a “convicted felon who launched a ‘Black’ coalition in front of a majority-white audience in Detroit a few weeks ago” and “stood with white nationalists in Charlottesville and ran a racist campaign dehumanizing Black and brown communities at every turn.”

The letter concluded with: “Stop the games. We’re standing behind Joe.”

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