(September 2, 2018 / JNS) Garlin Gilchrist, the running mate of Michigan Democratic gubernatorial candidate Gretchen Whitmer, has come under fire for Twitter posts from almost a decade ago, supporting Hamas and demonizing those who kiss “Israel’s a**.”

“I’m suck [sic] of politicians and Evangelicals kissing Israel’s a** regardless of what they do in the name of ‘defense’,” Gilchrist posted on January 4, 2009.

“Obama speaking could be the signal the beginnig [sic] of a new American approach; an end to the ‘Israel-can-do-no-wrong’ approach,” Gilchrist wrote two days later.

Gilchrist added, “Hamas is a legitimately elected party that only rose to power b/c of Israeli aggression & Western complicity/enablement.”

This development comes as Whitmer declined to take a stance or denounce the BDS movement earlier this week at a townhall event.

“I recognize the fundamental rights are that we have the right to speak,” Whitmer said in response to a question on BDS, according to a recording of the event acquired by the Washington Free Beacon. “No one gets to infringe on those rights on my watch.”

“The BDS movement should be an easy one to condemn,” Democratic strategist Aaron Keyak told JNS. “The answer wasn’t clear as it should be, but I bet she’s clearer the next time. Let’s see how this goes moving forward.”

Whitmer has an 8.2 percentage point-lead over Republican gubernatorial candidate and Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette in the RealClear Politics average.

Whitmer is not the only candidate in Michigan this year accommodated by an anti-Israel platform. Rashida Tlaib, a Democrat expected to be elected from the state’s 13th Congressional District as the first Muslim woman in Congress due to no Republican opposition, is a supporter of BDS.