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Joe Biden at an appearance in Detroit, Michigan (archive photo)

Photo: Jonathan Ernst / Reuters

According to the Washington Post and CNN, both US President Joe Biden and Donald Trump won their parties' primaries in Michigan, as expected.

The initial results showed a clear lead for Biden and Trump.

After around a quarter of the Democrats' votes were counted, around 80 percent went to Biden and 14 to 16 percent to the "undecideds".

How many of these votes were cast in protest against Biden's Gaza policy could not be determined.

Michigan offers an opportunity to challenge the party's base support for a nominee.

There are many Arabs living in the US state with ten million inhabitants - slightly fewer than Baden-Württemberg - who accuse it of uncritically supporting Israel in the Gaza war.

His critics therefore called on voters to vote “uncommitted” in protest.

As a “swing state,” Michigan is also considered one of the key states for the actual presidential election in November, which will likely result in a runoff election between Biden and Trump.

Both major parties have a good chance of winning the election in the state, so the result is, so to speak, “hanging in the balance.”

In the 2020 election, Biden was only 2.8 percentage points ahead of Trump in Michigan.

Haley loses again - but doesn't want to give up

Among the Republicans, Trump was with 66 percent, more than well ahead of his challenger Nikki Haley with around 29 percent.

Trump and Haley had another duel in the northern state for their party's nomination for the presidential election on November 5th.

Anyone who wants to become a presidential candidate in the USA must first prevail in internal party primaries.

The candidates are then officially chosen at party conferences in the summer.

The Democrat Biden no longer has any serious competition in his party - even if parts of his party are concerned about the old age of the incumbent president.

Haley had already lost to Trump in the primaries in Iowa, New Hampshire and last weekend in South Carolina.

The 52-year-old is considered to be somewhat more politically and rhetorically moderate than her competitor.

It is unclear how long she will remain in the running for candidacy, as she is effectively no longer given a chance of beating Trump.

The 77-year-old has great support among the party base - despite all the derailments, scandals and legal problems.

jok/Reuters