Photo: Don Reid ~ USA TODAY NETWORK
LIPTON, MI, April 2, 2024 ~ Republican Congressman Tim Walberg (MI-5) is defending recent comments he made that sparked backlash, in which he appeared to suggest dropping nuclear bombs on Gaza after a video clip of him referencing Nagasaki and Hiroshima went viral.
The social media video of Walberg was from a March 25 town hall, where the U.S. representative said, “We shouldn’t be spending a dime on humanitarian aid. It should be like Nagasaki and Hiroshima. Get it over quick,” referencing the Japanese cities the U.S. dropped nuclear bombs on in 1945 that killed between 130,000-230,000 people. This comment drew widespread condemnation from Democrats and progressive activists at a time when nearly 33,000 Palestinians have died from Israel’s military assault on Gaza and the population of 2.3 million are facing imminent famine.
PODCAST:
April 2, 2024 ~ U.S. Congressman Tim Walberg (MI-5) said the conflict in Gaza should be ended quickly, like “Nagasaki and Hiroshima.” He talks with Guy Gordon, Lloyd Jackson, and Jamie Edmonds about the comments that were filmed at a town hall, and if he thinks the U.S. should be sending humanitarian aid to the region.
(CONTINUED) Walberg said to WJR‘s Guy Gordon, Lloyd Jackson, and Jamie Edmonds that he would have used a different historical military moment for his metaphor if he had known there were two of what he claimed to be “Democrat operatives” in the room, adding that he was responding to a question about the U.S. building a temporary port to deliver humanitarian aid into the besieged strip.
“The group that was there were people like me, people who grew up in the Cold War era, and understood the last thing we want to do is advocate for nuclear war,” Walberg said. “We don’t want that at all, but the issue was the quickness in dealing with the issue of this horrific attack by Hamas.“
Michigan Democrats were quick to condemn his comments, including staunch Israel supporters like U.S. Reps. Haley Stevens (MI-11) and Shri Thanedar (MI-13). “Threatening to use, suggesting the use of, or, God forbid actually using nuclear weapons, are unacceptable tactics of war in the 21st Century,” Stevens posted on X, formerly Twitter.
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