WYOMING — Some Republican members of Congress are joining in the President’s rebuke of Rep. Rashida Tlaib for contentious comments she made concerning the Holocaust during a podcast last week.
Criticism of the freshman House Democratic from Michigan zeroes in on a quote plucked from an hour-long interview posted last Friday by Yahoo News’Skullduggery(Tlaib’s Holocaust comment starts at the 28-minute mark) that begins: “There’s kind of a calming feeling I always tell folks when I think of the Holocaust…”
Tlaib, who is of Palestinian heritage and Muslim faith, continued on with an explanation that put the words in more context, but rightwing critics were quick to use the quote as fodder and further proof of the Congresswoman’s pattern of criticizing Israel and the US approach to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
President Donald Trump on Monday remarked that Tlaib’s comments were “horrible and highly insensitive” and demonstrated a “tremendous hatred of Israel and the Jewish people.”
House Republican Conference Chair Liz Cheney (R-WY) was one of the first to pounce on her colleague’s remarks, issuing a statement Sunday demanding action from Democratic Party leadership.
“Representative Tlaib’s comments about the Holocaust are sickening. I call on Speaker Pelosi and Leader Hoyer to finally take action against Representative Tlaib and other members of the Democratic caucus who are spreading vile anti-Semitism,” Cheney said. “All of us, regardless of party, must stand as Americans against the evil of anti-Semitism. If the Democratic leadership continues to stand by in silence, they are enabling the spread of evil. History teaches us that anti-Semitism begins with words and becomes something far worse. Speaker Pelosi and Leader Hoyer must act now.”
In response to the backlash that also includes House Minority Whip Steve Scalise and Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, Tlaib remains defiant and refuses to back off her statements.
“Policing my words, twisting & turning them to ignite vile attacks on me will not work,” she tweeted late Sunday. “All of you who are trying to silence me will fail miserably. I will never allow you to take my words out of context to push your racist and hateful agenda. The truth will always win.”
