Congressman's Gaza Comments Under Fire

GOP Rep. Tim Walberg of Michigan is taking some heat over comments he made about the Israel-Hamas war during a local town hall meeting. During the forum, Walberg suggested Gaza be handled "like Nagasaki and Hiroshima," though he has since insisted he wasn't advocating the use of nuclear weapons.

• The line: "I don't think any of our aid that goes to Israel to support our greatest ally, arguably maybe in the world, to defeat Hamas and Iran and Russia, and probably North Korea's in there, and China, too, with them helping Hamas—we shouldn't be spending a dime on humanitarian aid," said Walberg at the town hall, per Politico. "It should be like Nagasaki and Hiroshima. Get it over quick. The same should be in Ukraine. Defeat Putin quick."
• Video: You can watch and hear the clip in this video. The comments came after he was asked why the US was spending money to build a pier to get humanitarian aid into Gaza, notes the New York Times.

• Clarifying: After the comments drew a backlash, Walberg issued a statement Sunday. "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," he said. "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."
• Clarifying, II: "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 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."
• Criticism: "I don't care how much he tries to walk back the statement, it's clear what he meant," Democratic Rep. Susan Wild of Pennsylvania tells Axios, which notes that Walberg's stance against humanitarian aid for Gaza is in line with the GOP consensus in Congress. Other Democrats, including Rep. Rashida Tlaib had similar criticism, notes the Detroit Free Press. (Tlaib herself previously drew controversy for remarks about the war perceived as antisemitic. Meanwhile, the UN chief has called the lack of aid entering Gaza a "moral outrage.")