Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer refused to take a facet within the feud between Legal professional Basic Dana Nessel and Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich who accused Nessel of bringing expenses towards anti-Israel campus protesters on the College of Michigan as a result of she is Jewish.
In an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union” Sunday, Jake Tapper requested the Democratic governor whether or not she agrees with Nessel, a Democrat, that Tlaib’s accusation about her charging anti-Israel campus demonstrators due to her private spiritual bias was rooted in antisemitism.
“Do you think that Tlaib’s suggestion that Nessel’s office is biased was antisemitic?” Tapper requested.
U.S. Michigan Legal professional Basic Dana Nessel. (Invoice Pugliano/Getty Pictures)
“All I can say is that I know that our Jewish community is in pain, as is our Palestinian and Muslim and Arab communities in Michigan,” Whitmer stated. “I know that seeing the incredible toll that this war has taken on both communities has been really, really challenging and difficult, and my heart breaks for so many. But as governor, my job is to make sure that both these communities are protected and respected under the law in Michigan, and that’s exactly what I’m going to stay focused on.”
Tapper pressed her once more, “Do you think Attorney General Nessel is not doing her job?”
Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer appears to be like on on the United Heart, on Day 2 of the Democratic Nationwide Conference (DNC) in Chicago, Illinois, U.S., August 20, 2024. (REUTERS/Brendan Mcdermid)
“Because Congresswoman Tlaib is suggesting that she shouldn’t be prosecuting these individuals that Nessel says broke the law, and that she’s only doing it because she’s Jewish, and the protesters are not,” he continued. “That’s quite an accusation. Do you think it’s true?”
Whitmer continued to dodge questions on the difficulty.
“Like I said, Jake, I’m not going to get in the middle of this argument that they’re having,” she stated. “I can just say this: We do want to make sure that students are safe on our campuses, and we recognize that every person has the right to make their statement about how they feel about an issue, a right to speak out. And I’m going to use every lever of mine to ensure that both are true.”
Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) poses for selfies with anti-Israel demonstrators exterior her workplace within the Rayburn Home Workplace Constructing as they rallied on Capitol Hill. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Pictures)
Nessel, Michigan’s first Jewish lawyer basic, charged 9 college college students for refusing to go away the anti-Israel encampments in Could after police ordered them to vacate, the Detroit Metro Occasions reported. They’re being charged with trespassing and resisting or obstructing a police officer, based on the outlet. Two extra folks have been charged with tried ethnic intimidation and malicious destruction of private property at a separate anti-Israel protest.
JEWISH TEEN’S ASSAULT IN MICHIGAN UNDER INVESTIGATION AS POSSIBLE ANTISEMITIC HATE CRIME:POLICE
Tlaib, a ‘Squad’ member and vocal critic of Israel, slammed the fees from Nessel as “shameful,” telling the Detroit Metro Occasions in an interview, “it seems that the Attorney General decided if the issue was Palestine, she was going to treat it differently, and that alone speaks volumes about possible biases within the agency she runs.’
Anti-Israel demonstrators gather to protest University of Michigan President Santa Ono’s “Assertion relating to Mideast violence” outside the University of Michigan President’s House on Oct. 13, 2023, in Ann Arbor, Michigan. A Jewish teen was assaulted in what authorities have called a “bias-motivated assault” last weekend. (Jacob Hamilton/Ann Arbor News via AP, File)
Nessel responded on X, “Rashida Tlaib mustn’t use my faith to indicate I can’t carry out my job pretty as Legal professional Basic. It’s anti-Semitic and mistaken.'”
Whitmer’s hesitation to defend Nessel caught the attention of Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt, who scolded the governor for failing to support her attorney general.
“@GovWhitmer, when your lawyer basic prosecutes folks for violating the legislation, harassing Jews, and attacking law enforcement officials, it’s within the curiosity of public security. When a congresswoman accuses the lawyer basic of prosecuting protestors just because she’s Jewish, it’s bias.”
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
“Saying you wish to ‘make sure that students are safe on our campuses’ is simply phrases if you’re not prepared to make use of your bully pulpit to talk out unequivocally on antisemitism and help holding folks accountable for violating the legislation when it impacts Jews.”
