Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.) would have joined more than half of Senate Democrats voting in favor of two resolutions advanced by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), one restricting assault rifles sales to Israel and the other halting bomb shipments to the Jewish state, if she hadn’t been in New York City as a guest on “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert.”
“I represent a state with a large Arab and Muslim population and a large Jewish population,” the Jewish senator stated on Thursday. “Over these last two years, few issues have been as raw as this one. I have therefore worked very hard to call balls and strikes based on my experience and the facts on the ground, even as most people fall firmly into one side or another, and are often reluctant to consider new information.”
Both bills failed to pass on Wednesday night, though they drew significant Democratic support.
“Had I made it back for the vote yesterday, I would have voted ‘yes’ to block offensive weapons to Israel based on my concerns over a lack of food and medicine getting to civilians in Gaza,” Slotkin stated.
The senator said she remains a “strong” supporter of Israel, as she has been her entire life. “But despite the fact that Hamas began this bloody round of conflict, and refuses to release the hostages, the images of emaciated children are hard to turn away from,” she stated. “As are the calls from Michiganders, who have friends and family trying to survive in Gaza.”
She added that “the Netanyahu government thinks that there are no limits to what they can do while still receiving U.S. support.”
In response, the Republican Jewish Coalition stated: “So-called ‘moderate’ Michigan Senator Slotkin would have voted with crazy Bernie Sanders on his anti-Israel resolutions and blames Israel for the crisis in Gaza rather than Hamas. Shameful. Today’s Democratic Party. Shilling for Hamas and abandoning Israel.”
Slotkin posted a picture in front of a sign for Colbert’s show on a personal social-media handle, but not on her official one.
Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.), Slotkin’s fellow Michigan senator, voted against both measures initiated by Sanders on Wednesday.
