Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., warned in remarks that aired on Sunday that Israel's ongoing war with Hamas in Gaza is splintering the Democratic Party’s coalition.
"This particular issue on Gaza is breaking our coalition," Jayapal told CNN correspondent Manu Raju on the steps of the Capitol. "We need that fragile coalition to come back together, but this is a moral issue for people, and so there’s not a lot of time to fix it. The worse it gets in Gaza, the harder it gets to bring people back in."
Divisions continue to grow among Democrats when it comes to Israel's war with Hamas. The progressive base of the party wants President Biden to push for a ceasefire and accuse Israel of targeting Palestinian civilians. Over 100,000 Democratic voters in Michigan marked the "uncommitted" box on their ballots during the primary in February, as a symbol of protest over Biden's policies on the Israel-Hamas war.
Raju told "Inside Politics Sunday" viewers that Biden faces a similar challenge of protest votes in the Wisconsin primary this Tuesday, where it appears many progressive voters plan to vote "uninstructed." Raju noted how Michigan and Wisconsin are part of the "blue wall" that Biden must win to keep his presidency and that the president "does not have much room for error."
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Rep. André Carson, D-Ind., also told Raju that "without question," progressive voters might stay home over the issue.
"Oh, without question. If Donald Trump is the only alternative, absolutely. But it’s an important message that shows that we need to use our bully [pulpit] to get something done on behalf of Gazans and the Palestinian people," Carson said.
During the "Inside Politics" panel discussion, Washington Post Capitol Hill reporter Rhonda Colvin said how these protest votes in the Democratic primary doesn't mean former President Trump will win over these voters.
"Yeah, you‘re seeing that through these protest votes, there is that distinction to make that it‘s not necessarily that these folks who will vote ‘uninstructed’ are going to be votes for Trump," Colvin said. "But there is that question of how enthused they are about a Biden administration again."
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She added that Biden’s campaign "will have to look at how many people are voting in this way, especially in a state like Wisconsin, where, come November, it may be the state we‘re all watching. I was looking at a couple polls and at least two of them right now are tied when it comes to Trump versus Biden. So that means that this election, in Wisconsin at least, could come down to just thousands of votes. So this is one of those protest votes that the campaign is certainly going to have to look at."
