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A conservative Jewish activist who was shoved to the ground during a debate at the University of Michigan is speaking out about the violent encounter, vowing not to let the attack silence her.
“It will definitely not dissuade me,” Lizzy Benichou told “Fox & Friends” on Monday.
Benichou said she was hosting an open debate on the Ann Arbor campus when a woman approached the group, began shouting and allegedly struck another conservative influencer in the face with her phone before turning on her.
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Conservative Jewish activist Lizzy Benichou joins ‘Fox & Friends’ on Monday, Nov. 2 to discuss the attack she suffered on the University of Michigan’s Ann Arbor campus. (Fox & Friends/Screengrab)
“She slapped Joe [Redden] in the face with her phone. Then she came up towards me and I told her, ‘You would not be able to do this in Iran,'” Benichou said, recounting the incident.
She explained that she was referring to freedom of speech, pointing to the Iranian government’s treatment of protesters.
The confrontation escalated as Benichou and fellow conservative influencer Cam Higby challenged the woman over women’s freedoms in Iran.
“I think [Higby] said, ‘She wouldn’t be allowed to be dressed like this,'” she continued.
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University of Michigan students walk on the UM campus next to signage displaying the University’s “Core Values” on April 3, 2025 in Ann Arbor, Mich, (Bill Pugliano/Getty Images)
“I had also said, ‘If you were in Iran dressed like this, what would happen to you?’ And there were some Jordanian students next to me, and I asked them, ‘Am I right?’ And then she just lunged.”
Benichou described feeling sore after suffering a “hard fall” during the incident Sunday.
The confrontation comes as Michigan’s closely watched Senate race brings political and cultural divisions into sharper focus ahead of the midterms.
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Benichou said her visit to the campus was partly motivated by concerns about Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed, whose political affiliations and campaign funding she wanted to discuss with students.