A House Republican is weathering fallout after video surfaced of him apparently calling for nuclear weapons to be deployed in the densely populated Gaza Strip, which is besieged by Israel as the US ally vows to eradicate Hamas.
“We shouldn’t be spending a dime on humanitarian aid. It should be like Nagasaki and Hiroshima. Get it over quick,” Rep. Tim Walberg of Michigan said in a clip spotlighting a segment of his town hall last Monday.
Nagasaki and Hiroshima are the only cities that have ever been nuked during wartime. The US deployed that attacks that killed hundreds of thousands of people in 1945, ushering in Japan’s surrender and the end of World War II.
The congressman’s remarks came in response to a constituent question about the Biden administration’s plans to craft a floating pier off the coast of Gaza to funnel aid to the Palestinians.
“Why are we spending our money to build a port for them?,” the constituent asked.
Walberg, 72, explained that the Biden administration believes it is important to marshal humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip but underscored his personal opposition, saying, the US “shouldn’t be spending a dime on humanitarian aid.”
A longer version of the clip revealed that after his retort about Gaza, Wallberg also said, “The same should be in Ukraine.”
Walberg defended his remarks in a statement to The Post Sunday morning.
“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. 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,” the statement read.
“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. 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.”
Gaza is home to roughly 2.2 million Palestinians, the vast majority of whom have been displaced by Israel’s war in the narrow Gaza Strip and are facing a humanitarian crisis.
The Israel-Hamas war was sparked by the deadly Oct. 7, 2023 surprise attack that killed some 1,200 Israelis. Some 33,000 Palestinians have been killed in the counteroffensive, according to health officials installed by Hamas, who do not differentiate between civilians and fighters.
Walberg was first elected to the lower chamber in 2010. He is now facing a firestorm over his comments, particularly among Democrats in the Wolverine State.
“This is a reprehensible thing for anyone to suggest, especially an elected official and someone who considers himself a man of faith,” Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich), who is vying for the Senate, posted on X.
“Rep. Walberg should take back his comments, and try to put himself in the shoes of the many Michiganders who see themselves in the casualties in Gaza.”
Slotkin, who is Jewish, has been a prominent backer of Israel amid the war.
“Rep. Walberg’s comments are horrific & shocking. It is an indefensible position to argue against humanitarian aid for the people of Gaza while also calling for the wholesale massacre of the Palestinian people,” Rep. Daniel Kildee (D-Mich.) chided.
“I couldn’t disagree more with these extreme & dangerous comments.”
The Post contacted Walberg’s office for comment.
Michigan is home to the largest percentage of Arab Americans in the US and has emerged as something of a political tinderbox for Democrats on the topic of Israel.
Last month, over 100,000 Michiganders wrote in “uncommitted” during the Democratic primary to protest President Biden’s support for Israel.
Biden has since grown more publicly outspoken about Israel’s conduct and implored the key Middle Eastern ally to be more cautious about civilian casualties.
