WATCH: Gov. Whitmer Completely Dodges When Confronted By Jake Tapper About Whether Rep. Tlaib Made an Anti-Semitic Smear Against Michigan’s AG
Governor Gretchen Whitmer (D-MI) completely dodged questions from CNN’s Jake Tapper about whether Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) smeared Michigan’s Attorney General, Dana Nessel, in anti-Semitic fashion.
In a fraught exchange on CNN’s State of the Union Sunday, Tapper confronted the governor about Tlaib’s accusation that Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel brought charges against protesters at the University of Michigan solely because they were pro-Palestinian.
“Your State’s Attorney General, Dana Nessel, charged almost a dozen individuals from the University of Michigan over the anti-Israel protests,” Tapper said. “Among the charges: attempted ethnic intimidation, assaulting or obstructing a police officer, and on and on. These are pro-Palestinian protesters who are being punished and prosecuted.
“Michigan Democratic Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib — who is Palestinian — she called the charges from Nessel, who is Jewish, ‘shameful.’ And Talib said ‘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.’ Nessel responded by saying, ‘Rashida Tlaib should not use my religion to imply I cannot perform my job fairly as Attorney General. It’s anti-Semitic and wrong.'”
Tapper asked Whitmer: “Do you think that Talib suggestion that Nessel’s office is biased was anti-Semitic?
But the governor refused to take a position.
“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 said. “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 refused to let Whitmer off the hook — pressing the governor on whether Congresswoman Tlaib smeared the state’s attorney general, or whether her claim has merit.
“Do you think Attorney General Nessel is not doing her job?” Tapper asked. “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. That’s quite an accusation. Do you think it’s true?”
But Tapper’s follow-up produced a second non-answer from Whitmer.
“Like I said, Jake, I’m not going to get in the middle of this argument that they’re having,” Whitmer said. “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.”
Watch above, via CNN.
