Rep. Tim Walberg (R-MI) took back his comments recommending that Gaza and Russia be treated “like Hiroshima and Nagasaki” Sunday.
Walberg hosted a town hall in Dundee, which is in his 5th Congressional District in Michigan, just west of Lake Erie. He intended “to meet with constituents” but got off the rails when a man asked why the U.S. was paying to open a port into Gaza to send in humanitarian aid.
“We shouldn’t be spending a dime on humanitarian aid,” Walberg said in his response captured on video. “It should be like Nagasaki and Hiroshima. Get it over quick. The same should be in Ukraine.”
🇺🇲Michigan Republican Representative Tim Walberg, on Gaza:
“We shouldn’t be spending a dime on humanitarian aid. It should be like Nagasaki and Hiroshima. Get it over quick.”
Disgusting piece off s**t calling himself a Christian. pic.twitter.com/QQpZpLv37b
— Megatron (@Megatron_ron) March 31, 2024
The clip garnered hundreds of thousands of views on X. This prompted a response from Walberg on the same platform.
“As a child who grew up in the Cold War era, the last thing I’d advocate for would be the use of nuclear weapons,” Walberg wrote. “In a shortened clip, I used a metaphor to convey the need for both Israel and Ukraine to win their wars as swiftly as possible, without putting American troops in harm’s way. My reasoning was the exact opposite of what is being reported: The quicker these wars end, the fewer innocent lives will be caught in the crossfire.”
“The sooner Hamas and Russia surrender, the easier it will be to move forward,” he continued. “The use of this metaphor, along with the removal of context, distorted my message, but I fully stand by these beliefs and stand by our allies.”
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In the nearly six months since Hamas combatants killed roughly 1,200 people in southern Israel, the subsequent fighting between the state and terrorist group has resulted in about 32,000 Palestinian deaths. This total is counted by the Gaza Health Ministry, which is controlled by Hamas. Russia has suffered over 300,000 casualties among its army in the two years following its invasion of Ukraine, which is about 80% of the force.
President Joe Biden called for a ceasefire in Gaza amid increasing pressure in Michigan to do so. A movement began encouraging Democratic voters to vote “uncommitted” in the state’s primary election as a form of protest against the president’s support of Israel. The number of uncommitted votes resulted in Biden losing two delegates, who will be free to vote for any candidate they’d like later this year.