Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer pleaded with the Harris-Biden administration this week to “do more” for US citizens stuck in Lebanon as the Middle East teeters on the verge of all-out war between Israel and Iran.
“We are already hearing reports of confirmed deaths and fear there will be more,” Whitmer wrote in a Tuesday letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken obtained by The Detroit News. “We cannot stand by while our constituents and their families are suffering.”
The Democrat noted that some Americans have reported having their flights out of Beirut canceled at the last minute and being forced to pony up as much as $8,000 for a ticket to leave.
The State Department referred The Post to spokesperson Matthew Miller’s comments to reporters Thursday.
“We have been advising American citizens to leave for months now,” Miller said. “We have been telling Americans that the security situation was unstable and that they should leave via commercial options while it is safe to do so.”
Earlier this week, Miller confirmed that the US is “not evacuating American citizens from Lebanon at this time.”
“We are exploring other potential options should we need to. But it’s not a decision we’ve made as of yet,” he added.
The State Department has issued a Level 4 “do not travel” advisory against visits to Lebanon, and ordered diplomats’ families to leave the country Sept. 28.
The previous day, Israel killed Hezbollah’s notorious longtime leader Hassan Nasrallah in an airstrike on the terror group’s headquarters in Beirut’s southern suburb of Dahieh.
Iran, which has long sponsored Hezbollah as one of its proxy forces, launched a wave of about 180 ballistic missiles at Israel Tuesday evening in retaliation for Nasrallah’s death, marking its second such direct attack on the Jewish state this year.
Israel has vowed to retaliate.
President Biden, 81, has publicly opposed a possible strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities as a means of retribution.
The Harris-Biden administration has faced criticism in the past for slow-walking evacuations out of global hotspots.
This includes backlash over the lack of planning for the removal of US citizens, personnel and Afghan allies during the 2021 withdrawal from that country.
Last year, the White House also stoked anger in the aftermath of the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel, when numerous Americans were stranded in the region.
Whitmer had penned a letter to Blinken at that time as well, imploring him to help get Michiganders trapped in the Gaza Strip back to the US.
