Democrat Dingell says Trump may have 'nuked Gaza' amid anger at Biden

Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.) warned Tuesday that her colleague Rep. Rashida Tlaib’s (D-Mich.) anger at President Biden over his administration’s handling of the Israel-Hamas war could backfire if it helps elect former President Trump, who she said could be far worse for Palestinians.

Dingell said it is important to listen to the Muslim and Arab American communities in Michigan, as voters in the state go to the primary polls on Tuesday. Tlaib has backed a push for Democratic voters to vote “uncommitted” in protest of Biden's support for Israel, and refusal to back a ceasefire in the war.

But Dingell said that Palestinians in Gaza would have been worse off if Trump was in the Oval Office when Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, killing some 1,200 people and taking about 240 hostages.

“I have a different perspective than some,” Dingell said during her Tuesday appearance on MSNBC. “I’m glad we’re talking about it now and not on Oct. 15. I also say to my colleague who I talk to all the time, you do not want Donald Trump to be president! If Hamas had done this under a Trump presidency, I’m not sure that he wouldn’t have just nuked Gaza, to be perfectly frank.”

Dingell was reacting to Tlaib’s video posted on Tuesday by the Listen to Michigan campaign, in which the only Palestinian American member of Congress said she was “proud” to vote “uncommitted” in the primary.

“We must protect our democracy. We must make sure that our government is about us, about the people," Tlaib said in the video.

Biden is facing backlash from progressives over his handling of the war in the Middle East, and faced protests over the issue when visiting the state in early February. 

Dingell said that “honest” conversations are needed on the subject and that she understands the pain residents are feeling, having lived for 40 years in Dearborn, which has one of the highest per-capita Muslim populations in America.

“I know how much they’re hurting and what people don’t understand is how many families have really lost family members," she said. "Mothers and fathers and grandmothers and aunts and uncles and cousins. There are families that have lost 20, 40 family members.”