Michigan’s largest newspaper fact checked leftist comedian Stephen Colbert, host of “The Late Show,” for a false claim that he made about Republican gubernatorial nominee Tudor Dixon.
At a debate last week against Democrat Governor Gretchen Whitmer, Dixon said, “I had a gentleman come up to me just a few nights ago, and he said, ‘I found content in my school library describing how to have sex to my son.’”
“I went to the Democrats and I said, ‘I cannot believe that this is in there.’ … He said ‘just a few weeks ago, not only was I a Democrat, but I was running for office as a Democrat,’” Dixon continued. “He said because Democrats won’t stand up for our children and go back to the basics, ‘I’m leaving the Democratic Party.’”
“Dixon’s not the only one worried about this issue,” Colbert mockingly responded. “So is this guy she totally made up.”
However, the man, Khalil Othman, told the Detroit Free Press that he is real, his story is real, and his switch to the Republican Party is real.
“To claim that I’m not here, I don’t exist, I’m not human, that’s absolute ignorance,” Othman, 41, said. “If this person did his due diligence and start researching or has his team do a little bit of research of who’s this person who attended Dixon’s rally, they will be able to find my name right away easy on social media. Just Google it.”
At a rally for Dixon a couple of weeks ago in Flat Rock, Othman told his story to the crowd about why he decided to become a Republican.
“My name is Khalil Othman. I came all the way from Dearborn, Michigan. I’m here along with two parents, concerned parents … against these sexually explicit books,” he said. “I am a proud Muslim American who expresses my values and concerns all the time.”
“Dearborn has been voting Democrat blue for the last decade or two decades. But not anymore,” he added. “On behalf of myself and my family, I guarantee you for sure that my family and my friends will vote for Republicans.”
On social media, Othman, said he was “a loyal Democrat” for approximately 20 years ago after immigrating from the Middle East.
“Never once did I ever vote Republican,” he wrote. “However, the situation with the sexually explicit material in the schools was for me a bridge too far. When it comes to my kids and my family, I will not budge.”
The race for the governor’s mansion in Michigan is tight headed into next week’s election with polls showing that Dixon is within a couple of points of Whitmer.
