More than a week after activists chanted “Death to America” and “Death to Israel” at a high-profile rally in Michigan, Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer condemned the rhetoric.
“This hateful rhetoric is unacceptable, and does not represent Michigan or Dearborn,” Whitmer’s office told Fox News Digital on Sunday. “The Dearborn community is full of hardworking, proud Americans. Our state is diverse and we are proud of it.”
A Whitmer spokesperson said the statement had previously been “prepared and provided to media upon request,” however, the text did not appear to have been printed in any outlets and was also notably absent from the governor’s social media accounts. Fox News Digital asked Whitmer’s office last week to weigh in on the chants but did not receive a comment at that time.
Protesters were seen on video chanting “Death to America” and “Death to Israel” at an Al-Quds Day rally in Dearborn on April 5.
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Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer waits to speak at a canvass kickoff on Michigan Primary Election Day on Aug. 2, 2022, in Grand Rapids, Michigan. (Bill Pugliano/Getty Images)
Whitmer had seemingly remained silent about the chants, even as the Biden administration condemned “these abhorrent and antisemitic remarks in the strongest terms” in a comment to Fox News Digital last week.
The Biden campaign also responded “No” when asked whether it still sought the votes of those who chanted at the rally on April 5. Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud also publicly denounced the chants, calling them “unacceptable and contrary to the heart” of Dearborn.
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Local activist Takek Bazzi. (Middle East Media Research Institute)
“Gov. Whitmer may be celebrating the Day of No Silence today, but she’s been celebrating a whole WEEK of silence by refusing to condemn the ‘Death to America’ rally held in our state,” Michigan Senate Republicans posted Friday.
“Michigan protesters chanted ‘Death to America.’ Why is Whitmer silent?” a critical op-ed published Sunday in USA Today asked in its headline.
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International Al-Quds Day, the annual pro-Palestinian event held on the last Friday of Ramadan at which the “Death to America!” chants broke out, has significant support in Dearborn, which has the highest per capita Muslim population in the country.
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer speaks at the SelectUSA Investment Summit on May 4, 2023 in Oxon Hill, Maryland. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)
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Whitmer joined NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday and was asked whether Biden’s handling of the war in Israel could cost him Michigan’s vote in November’s presidential election.
“The state of Michigan is always going to be a close race, no matter what, under what scenario,” Whitmer said. “I will share, though, as I’ve had conversations with people both in my Jewish community and in the Arab American and Muslim and Palestinian community, that a lot of people are hurting right now. A lot of people are one degree of separation from someone who’s lost their lives, whether it was on October 7, or is in the war in Gaza.”
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She added, “And so I’m trying to keep an open dialogue to stay focused on how we support these beautiful diverse communities here in Michigan.”