Whitmer blasts Wall Street Journal's Dearborn op-ed as 'cruel', 'ignorant', and 'abhorrent'

(WXYZ) — Governor Gretchen Whitmer has weighed in on the controversy surrounding an opinion piece published by the Wall Street Journal entitled "Welcome to Dearborn: America's Jihad Capital."

Speaking in Grand Rapids, Whitmer said, "I thought that opinion article was incredibly cruel and ignorant and a total misrepresentation of an important city full of a lot of beautiful people who are Michiganders and our neighbors and our extended family. So that's why I responded. I recognize that there are a lot of people hurting because of the war that is raging in Israel and Gaza, people with Jewish relatives that are hurting, people with Palestinian or Muslim relatives that are hurting. And that's why my job as Governor has been to try and keep the heat down here at home, make sure people are safe, whether they worship in a mosque, a synagogue, a church, or anywhere else for that matter. And so I thought that opinion article was really abhorrent."

In the article, the author Steven Stalinsky wrote ”Imams and politicians in the Michigan city side with Hamas against Israel and Iran against the U.S.”

Quoting a Michigan State Police assessment submitted to the justice department after 9/11, Stalinsky claims the City of Dearborn is a recruiting area and potential support base for international terror groups.

The article also mentions rallies following the October 7 attack in Israel and claims alleged quotes from area faith leaders represent support for Hamas’ attack on Israel.

The article quickly drew condemnation from Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud, who said the controversial article is putting residents at risk.

Mayor Hammoud took to social media calling the article inflammatory and said its release has directly resulted in an "alarming increase" in bigoted and Islamaphobic rhetoric online targeting the city.

President Joe Biden also responded by posting the following on X, formerly known as Twitter.