Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer declined to intervene in the dispute between Attorney General Dana Nessel and Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., who accused Nessel of prosecuting anti-Israel campus protesters at the University of Michigan because she is Jewish.
In an interview with CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday, Jake Tapper asked the Democratic governor if he agreed with Nessel, a Democrat, that Tlaib’s accusations of charging anti-Israel campus protesters because of his personal religious bias were based on disbelief.
“Do you think Tlaib’s suggestion that Nessel’s office is biased was anti-Semitic?” Tapper asked.
US Attorney General Dana Nessel. (Bill Pugliano/Getty Images)
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“All I can say is that I know the Jewish community is in pain, and so are our Palestinian and Muslim and Arab communities in Michigan,” said Whitmer. “I know that seeing the incredible hardship that this war has caused for both communities has been really challenging, difficult and difficult, and my heart goes out to many. But as governor, my job is to make sure that both communities are protected and respected under the law in Michigan, and that’s exactly what I will always focus on.”
Tapper pressed him again, “Do you think Attorney General Nessel is not doing his job?”
Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer looks at the United Center, on Day 2 of the Democratic National Convention (DNC) in Chicago, Illinois, US, August 20, 2024. (REUTERS/Brendan McDermid)
“Because Congressman Tlaib suggests that he should not prosecute these people who say Nessel broke the law, he is doing this because he is a Jew, and the protesters are not,” he continued. “That’s quite a crime. Do you think it’s true?”
Whitmer continued to evade questions on the matter.
“Like I said, Jake, I’m not going to get into this argument they’re having,” he said. “I can only say this: We want to make sure that students are safe on our campuses, and we recognize that everyone has the right to make a statement on how they feel about a certain issue, the right to speak. And I will use all my information to make sure that both are true.”
Representative Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) takes selfies with anti-Israel protesters outside her office in the Rayburn House Office Building as they gather on Capitol Hill. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Nessel, Michigan’s first Jewish attorney general, charged nine university students with felony charges for refusing to leave anti-Israel sites in May after police told them to leave, the Detroit Metro Times reported. They are charged with trespassing and resisting or obstructing an officer, according to the statement. Two more were charged attempted racial intimidation and vandalism of personal property in a separate protest against Israel.
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Tlaib, a member of the ‘Squad’ and an outspoken critic of Israel, denounced Nessel’s charges as “disgraceful,” telling the Detroit Metro Times in an interview, “it seems that the Attorney General decided that the Palestinian issue, he was going to deal with it differently, and that alone speaks volumes.” about possible bias within the organization he manages.’
Anti-Israel protesters gather to protest “University of Michigan President Santa Ono’s Statement on Middle East Violence” outside the University of Michigan President’s House on Oct. 13, 2023, in Ann Arbor, Michigan. A Jewish teenager was attacked in what authorities called a “targeted attack” last weekend. (Jacob Hamilton/Ann Arbor News via AP, File)
Nessel replied to X, “Rashida Tlaib shouldn’t use my religion to say that I can’t do my job properly as Attorney General. She’s anti-Semitic and it’s wrong.'”
Whitmer’s reluctance to defend Nessel caught the attention of Anti-Defamation League chief Jonathan Greenblatt, who chided the governor for failing to support his attorney general.
“@GovWhitmer, if your attorney general is prosecuting people for breaking the law, harassing Jews, and attacking police, that’s in the interest of public safety. If a congressman is accusing the attorney general of prosecuting protesters just because he’s Jewish, that’s bias.”
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“That you want to ‘make sure students are safe on our campuses’ is just rhetoric if you’re not willing to use your bully pulpit to speak out against Jews and support criminal charges against Jews.”