(Headline USA) Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer finally condemned a viral “Death to America” chant that took place during a protest in Dearborn earlier this month.
Whitmer was one of several prominent state Democrats who had not released a statement on the matter, even after the White House publicly denounced the protest’s “violent rhetoric.”
On Sunday, however, Whitmer’s office finally spoke out. “This hateful rhetoric is unacceptable, and does not represent Michigan or Dearborn,” said the statement.
“The Dearborn community is full of hardworking, proud Americans,” it continued. “Our state is diverse and we are proud of it.”
When asked why they had not released this statement immediately after the protest, a spokesperson for Whitmer claimed it had been “prepared and provided to media upon request,” according to Fox News.
However, a Google search indicated that all online references to the statement in pieces published prior to Sunday attributed it to the Fox News article, in which it is believed to have first appeared.
The protest in Dearbor took place on Al-Quds [Jerusalem] Day, the last Friday of Ramadan, during which celebrants remember Iran’s 1979 revolution and the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini’s prayer for “the victory of the Muslims over the infidels.”
The April 5 event featured several Muslim activists who have been rallying leftist voters in the state against the Biden administration for its continued support of Israel in its war against Hamas.
“It’s not Genocide Joe that has to go; it’s the entire system that has to go,” local activist Takek Bazzi said, referring to President Joe Biden. “Any system that would allow such atrocities and such devilry to happen and would support it—such a system does not deserve to exist on God’s earth.”
The crowd responded by repeatedly chanting “Death to America” and “Death to Israel.”
Other Michigan Democrats are still reluctant to condemn the anti-American rhetoric. Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., whose district includes Dearborn, refused to say whether she disapproved of the chant when confronted earlier this week.
“I’m talking about your guys’ racist tropes,” Tlaib told Fox Business’s Hillary Vaughn. “You know, you guys know exactly what you do, and I know you’re Islamaphobic, but you guys gotta deal with it on your own selves, you’re not gonna use me.”
