Michigan Gov Whitmer Fails to Back AG Nessel After Rep. Tlaib Claims She is Prosecuting Anti-Israel Protesters Because She's Jewish

Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer (pictured center) is doing damage control after she failed to back her Attorney General Dana Nessel (pictured left) in an interview with CNN's Jake Tapper. Earlier this month, Nessel announced charges against 11 anti-Israel protesters at the University of Michigan.

Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib (pictured right) suggested that Nessel, who is Jewish, is prosecuting the anti-Israel protesters out of bias. Tlaib stated, “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 replied on X:

Rashida's religion should not be used in a cartoon to imply that she's a terrorist. It's Islamophobic and wrong.

Just as Rashida should not use my religion to imply I cannot perform my job fairly as Attorney General. It's anti-Semitic and wrong.

However, when Tapper asked Whitmer about the row between Nessel and Tlaib, she meekly replied:

I’m not going to get in the middle of this argument that they’re having. 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.

In so doing, Whitmer basically let Nessel hang out to dry while giving legitimacy to Tlaib's attack on her integrity. I can't imagine Nessel was too pleased because a few hours after her appearance, Whitmer's office issued the following statement:

Governor Whitmer has been very clear in denouncing all anti-Semitic, Islamophobic, racist, and sexist language targeted toward communities in our state. The hateful rhetoric and racist tropes that have been lobbed at people, simply for who they are and what faith they practice, is unacceptable. Attorney General Nessel has spent her career defending the rights of Michiganders to live freely and safely in our state. Her office has centered impartiality and fairness in every decision to uphold the rule of law equally.

We will continue to bring Michiganders together to call out hateful rhetoric and violence as we work toward peace.

While the last sentence of Whitmer's first paragraph emphasizes Nessel's fairness and impartiality, she failed to call out Tlaib's hateful rhetoric.

I am not surprised at Whitmer's dithering. Following the October 7th attacks, Whitmer issued a namby-pamby statement on X which read, "I have been in touch with communities impacted by what's happening in the region. It is abhorrent. My heart is with all those impacted. We need peace in this region." 

It took several days for Whitmer to utter the word Israel, but still could not bring herself to condemn Hamas by name.

Whitmer was mentioned Democratic presidential hopeful during the ultimately successful effort to get President Biden to withdraw from the 2024 race. But Whitmer's dithering in the days following October 7th and now her hesitation in having the back of her Attorney General makes it hard no for me. I can only hope Kamala Harris wins in both 2024 and 2028 by which time Whitmer will fade from the national conversation.