Former U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry made the case Saturday that his friend and former colleague Joe Biden is the best equipped to become the next president of the United States.

In a Farmington Hills home with about 100 Jewish community leaders, Kerry said Biden understands foreign policy, especially surrounding the Middle East.

“Joe really feels that region. He knows it, he understands it. And you all know about his record as a United States senator and as vice president,” he said. “As vice president and as chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, he has consistently been supportive of Israel. But he's also been fair and wanting to find a way to respect the rights of Palestinians, too.”

It was the first of a half dozen stops from big name surrogates who are stumping on behalf of Biden in the days before Tuesday’s presidential primary. Without much of an organization in Michigan and without campaign stops from Biden himself until Monday, Kerry and U.S. Sen. Tom Carper of Delaware and U.S. Rep. G.K. Butterfield of North Carolina fanned out across metro Detroit to meet with union members, African Americans and Arab Americans.

“We're here now at a dreadfully serious moment in our country's history. I don't think any of us ever imagined we would have a president so lacking in any of the skills necessary to be president,” Kerry said. “I was for Joe from day one. I thought about running again. And Joe and I talked about it for many months. And I felt personally that Joe was, in many ways, better situated to be able to run for president this particular moment. Why? Because he's Joe Biden from Scranton. He's always been the guy who's been fighting for the middle class, and people struggling to get into the middle class.”

Farmington Hills businessman Hannan Lis, who hosted the gathering, said this election is crucial to the country’s future.

“And Joe is the one who can win,” he said. “Bernie can’t win.”

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Butterfield, who was first elected to Congress in 2004, told a group of about 50 African Americans at a Voting While Black forum in Detroit that Biden was the one chosen by former President Barack Obama to make sure the economic stimulus plan that pumped $831 billion into public infrastructure projects into cities and states across the nation in 2009 and the Affordable Care Act made it through Congress.

“We had grim prospects of passing the Affordable Care Act. We were literally spat upon. But it was Joe Biden who took the lead on the ACA and got it passed,” Butterfield said, noting that Biden also was a sponsor of legislation that changed congressional redistricting numbers and allowed more African Americans to be elected throughout the south.

And while he counts U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, the other Democratic front-runner for president, as a friend, he said he doesn’t have a path to enact his more radical ideas.

“He represents a point of view that’s valid. We cannot dismiss his ideas, although they are expensive and we cannot get them through Congress,” Butterfield said. “Bernie Sanders has very aspirational ideas that are worthy of discussion, but at the end of the day, they will not be passed by Congress. By contrast, Joe Biden has a steady hand, is center left and because of his viewsand his good relationship with those of us in the Congressional Black Caucus, I believe African Americans will overwhelmingly support his election.”

Some in the predominantly black audience were not sure about either candidate.

“We know about Biden and history but we also know how Bernie Sanders hasn’t shown up for black people — you can’t just hire a few black people,” said Nicole Small, a Detroit Charter Commissioner. “Maybe if you had conversations with us earlier on.”

Sanders staffer Nina Turner, a former Illinois state senator, and supporter Cornell West, a well-known philosopher and political activist, were also at the forum. West questioned Biden’s commitment toward fighting poverty and his relationship with wealthy donors. And Turner said that Sanders has placed African Americans in positions of power in his campaign.

“We got a whole host of black people working on the campaign,” Turner said. “It’s a misnomer that we don’t have black people working on the campaign.”

Butterfield noted how African Americans have lifted up Biden’s campaign and given him undeniable momentum.

“Joe Biden has a longstanding relationship with the African American community,” he said. “He has demonstrated it repeatedly over the years.”

Andre Walk, of Detroit, said he has been with Biden since he announced his candidacy, but is still frustrated by the Democratic Party and candidates ignoring urban concerns until it's time to vote.

"I want to see a president who will understand issues facing African Americans because we have been down in the basement so long, we have to look up to see the first floor," he said. "And you have to ask why does it only become a serious issue in an election year."

But Leslie Jones, of Detroit, had a view at odds with the majority of the Detroit crowd.

"I don't agree with his message, but I've got to give President Trump props. The economy is great," he said "Everybody knows he's not perfect, but like any businessman, he came forth to do a job and he's doing it."

In Grand Rapids, former presidential candidate Amy Klobuchar campaigned for Biden and stressed the importance of bringing in voters across the political spectrum, including people who voted for Trump.

"People are looking for someone who is a rock, someone who is a safe place, and that is Joe Biden," said the U.S. senator from Minnesota, who spoke to a large crowed at Creston Brewery. "We're going to win this thing, but we need a turnout like you've never seen."

Biden has scheduled two campaign stops on Monday, one in Grand Rapids and the other at a 7 p.m. rally at Renaissance High School, 6565 Outer Drive West in Detroit. The details of the Grand Rapids visit haven't been released yet.

Holland Sentinel Staff Writer Kate Carlson contributed to this report. Contact Kathleen Gray: 313-223-4430, kgray99@freepress.com or on Twitter @michpoligal.