Michigan Senate candidate says he was offered $20 million to challenge Rep. Tlaib instead

A Michigan businessman allegedly offered a Democrat candidate for the Michigan Senate $20 million to drop his current candidacy and run against House Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-MI., instead. The candidate — Hill Harper — reportedly declined the offer.

Linden Nelsen, the businessman and political donor, pitched the offer last month, according to Karthik Ganapathy, a spokesperson for Harper’s campaign, the New York Times reported. 

The conversation between Harper and Nelson was “respectful on both sides,” according to Ganapathy.

Harper and Tlaib could not be reached for comment. But in a post on X — formerly known as Twitter — on Wednesday, Harper wrote, “I will not be bought, or bossed, or bullied.” 

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“For me, this isn’t about one person or one phone call. It’s about a broken political and campaign finance system that’s tilted towards the wealthy and powerful. I’m running for the U.S. Senate because I believe the wealthy and powerful have too much representation in Washington. I’m running to be a voice for the people. I will not be bought, or bossed, or bullied,” he said. 

Politico first reported on the allegations of the offer and reached Nelson briefly on Wednesday, but the call quickly concluded, and Nelson would not respond to repeated requests for comment.

Harper, an actor and entrepreneur, faces an uphill battle to succeed Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich. But he has positioned himself as a progressive option and joined other Democratic calls for a ceasefire earlier this month. Tlaib also has called for a ceasefire. 

“The answers to ensure long-term peace and security for Israelis and Palestinians are neither simple nor pain-free, but one truth stands firm: violence against defenseless children, trapped and frightened, is abhorrent, regardless of who is behind it,” Harper reportedly wrote in a statement. 

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Tlaib, a progressive “Squad” member, was censured this month for her statements about the Israel-Palestine war. 

whose members have glamorized Hamas in its war battle with Israel after the terror group attacked and killed hundreds of innocent Israeli civilians last month, Fox News Digital exclusively learned last week.

The group is hidden from non-members and does not appear on the platform’s search engine, though Fox News Digital was able to gain access to it.

The group’s founder, Maher Abdel-qader, who has extensive ties to Tlaib and has also been linked to other liberal politicians, has come under fire in the past for his antisemitic social media posts, including questioning whether the Holocaust ever occurred.

Fox News’ Houston Keene contributed to this report. 

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