On Wednesday, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, a Democrat and a vociferous opponent of President Trump, claimed that the Trump campaign’s multiple lawsuits in the state of Michigan vis-à-vis purported election fraud were based on racist assumptions about black people.
Nessel said, “Really the themes that we see, that persist, are this: Black people are corrupt, Black people are incompetent and Black people can’t be trusted. That’s the narrative that is continually espoused by the Trump campaign and their allies in these lawsuits,” according to The Detroit Free Press.
Nessel said that the lawsuits centered on Detroit, which has a majority black population, rather than Oakland and Kent counties, whose majorities are white. She claimed that Trump’s claims of election misconduct were “demonstrably false.”
“On Wednesday, the Trump campaign filed a lawsuit in federal court in the Western District in Michigan. Including more than 100 affidavits, the campaign alleges that there was enough wrongdoing involved in counting votes in Detroit that a judge should temporarily prevent the certification of election results in the city and throughout the state,” The Detroit Free Press reported.
Nessel accused the Trump campaign of “forum shopping,” i.e. looking for courts disposed toward their point of view. “The federal lawsuit, filed in the Western District of the state, focuses primarily on allegations involving Detroit. Lansing, the seat of government, is located in the Western District of the state,” The Detroit Free Press noted.
Nessel said, “In my view, this is really a brazen case of forum shopping,” adding, “I will add that forum shopping and judge shopping are my least two favorite shopping seasons.” She said that if she attempted a similar action “this baseless and this frivolous, I would be sanctioned and I would likely be looking at a loss of licensure.”
In August, Nessel reportedly compared President Trump to Adolf Hitler, prompting the chairman of the Michigan Republican Party to denounce her. As The Daily Wire reported:
According to Gongwer reporter Jordyn Hermani, Nessel not only compared Trump to Hitler during the virtual 2020 State Nominating Convention of the Michigan Democratic Party on Aug. 29 but even jokingly suggested that the murderous dictator was more virtuous because he was “brave enough” to fight for his country in World War I.
“AG Dana Nessel kicking off her Democratic Nominating Convention by comparing President Trump to Adolf Hitler, before joking: ‘Hitler, by all accounts, could read and write … and he also was brave enough to serve in his nation’s military,'” Hermani tweeted. “Adds that people should be concerned Republican state leaders are backing Trump, who has in recent weeks joked that he might not leave office if not reelected.”
“For context, re: Hitler — Her lead up to the statement was that neither had received the popular vote and yet still took office, denigrates immigrants, seeks to destroy unions, degrades those who disagree with them, etc. and then said she wasn’t talking about Trump but Hitler,” Hermani added. …
When reached for comment, Nessel’s communications director Kelly Rossman-McKinney doubled down on her comparison, telling The Daily Wire, “AG Nessel is passionate about this election and deeply concerned about the direction of our country under the current president.”
“The president’s actions — with the addition of the pomp and circumstance at the White House last week — was reminiscent of a certain historical figure and she chose to point that out after doing an extensive, careful and accurate historical comparison that resulted in a very long list of similarities. People deserve to know who they are voting for,” she added.