Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-MI) joined CNN’s Kasie Hunt early on Tuesday morning to discuss a range of issues from the war between Israel and Hamas to President Joe Biden’s electoral woes, which Dingell warned are very real in her state.
“What do you think is the bigger political challenge for the White House here, obviously, and from a general election perspective? The border is a significant challenge with independent voters. But, you know, new polls we’ve got a new poll out of your home state of Michigan that shows Democrats 1 in 4 don’t approve of President Biden. Young voters are breaking for Donald Trump and there’s not a lot of enthusiasm,” Hunt asked as she showed a CNN poll showing Trump leading Biden by a 10-point margin in the state.
“Look, the only thing I’m going to say about this poll, it didn’t surprise me,” Dingell replied, adding:
And a year out, you know, warned, everybody knows now the famous one that tried to warn everybody in ‘15 and ‘16 that we had a problem and nobody listened. The thing I’m going to say about these polls, it’s getting people’s attention. We know what we have to do to go win and win this campaign. It’s going to be hard fought.And it is a very complicated state because of it’s young voters, as you
just pointed out. We still have to work on union voters who supported Donald Trump eight years ago, when you go in a hall and you get mixed reactions and the Middle East is very much complicated in Michigan in a way I’ve never seen before in my lifetime. But I also know what we need to do and we’ve got to start getting the president’s got to come and he’s got to meet with these groups. All of us have got to do a better job of talking about what has been done to save the economy. And we also have to define who Donald Trump is and the things that he has said and his record and how they’ll impact on Michigan.
“You feel like the White House or the Biden campaign is listening to you?” Hunt followed up.
“Yes, I am, I actually do. My phone calls get returned, and I think people know, you know, we finally got a state director appointed. That state director is going to be there. And I’m going to tell you this. The vice president had a very serious talk with me. And she’s very focused on these issues,” Dingell replied, concluding:
I think the White House probably doesn’t want me talking directly to President Biden too much. But the vice president came looking for me. She understands what’s got to happen in
Michigan. I want to say that to you. And I think there are a lot of senior people inside the White House that get this really is a problem. And now we’ve got to get to the things, that we’ve got to do to make sure that we’re addressing this.
Watch the full clip above via CNN.