First-term congresswoman Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) has nothing if not class.
A video resurfaced Saturday of the anti-Trump Democrat being dragged out of a campaign event for then-candidate Donald Trump in August 2016.
Tlaib, who was a former Michigan state representative until 2014, is seen shouting, “You guys are crazy!” while struggling with security guards who escorted her out of the Cobo Center in Detroit, where Trump was speaking in front of the Detroit Economic Club, according to The Washington Examiner. Take a look:
My god! Tlaib back in 2016. pic.twitter.com/7RNRpv32TO
— Rita Panahi (@RitaPanahi) July 20, 2019
Escorted out
Tlaib was among at least 14 protesters who reportedly stood on chairs and shouted over Trump’s speech, screaming phrases like, “Racist!” and, “Tiny hands! Tiny hands!” The Detroit Economic Club denounced the protests and said that the demonstrators would be banned from future events.
Another angle of the incident shows Tlaib and the other protesters being forcibly removed amid boos from the crowd, Fox News reports. Trump calmly waits for the agitation to die down before joking, “I will say, the Bernie Sanders people had far more energy and spirit.”
Tlaib was a Michigan state representative until she was forced out in 2014 because of term limits. After losing a state Senate election, she worked as a public interest attorney at the Sugar Law Center for Economic and Social Justice before going on to serve in Congress.
Tlaib wrote a column in the Detroit Free Press at the time defending her “patriotic and courageous act” and comparing herself to Civil Rights icons like Rosa Parks. The former Michigan state representative responded to critics who called her behavior “unbecoming” of a former state representative by arguing that Trump protesters need to drop “courteous behavior” and “social niceties.”
“I have heard critics calling it unbecoming of a former state legislator. Well, I believe it is unbecoming of any American to not stand up to Trump’s hate-filled rhetoric and tactics. Growing up the daughter of Palestinian immigrants in Detroit, I was taught about how Walter Reuther, Coleman Young, Rosa Parks, Viola Liuzzo and other great Detroiters risked their lives for justice,” she wrote.
Tlaib takes on Trump
Tlaib’s congressional career got off to a brash start in January with another viral video, in which she said that she would “impeach the mother****er,” referring to Trump. She has since become known as one of the most strident critics of Trump in Congress.
Indeed, Tlaib and other members of the so-called “Squad” of first-term progressive Democrats, including Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY) Ilhan Omar (MN), and Ayanna Pressley (MA), have been at the center of a political firestorm involving the president after Trump urged the lawmakers to “go back” to their home countries. Tlaib is from Michigan, and only one of the women is an immigrant, Rep. Omar.
But Tlaib and her fellow radicals have come under fire for rhetoric and policies that many consider extreme and even racist. Along with Omar, Tlaib has been accused by Republicans of using anti-Semitic rhetoric. Both women, who are supporters of the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestments, and Sanctions (BDS) movement, are planning to visit Israel next month, Fox reports.
The Trump-squad dustup continued over the weekend as President Trump claimed the four lawmakers were not “capable” of loving America and called on them to apologize for the “horrible (hateful) things they have said.” On Monday, Trump called the lawmakers “racist” and “not very smart,” according to Politico, while Tlaib swore that she’s not “going anywhere” until she impeaches Trump.
“We need bold action, folks. I know what’s happening out there…it’s beyond just the four of us,” she said. “The Squad is all of you. I can tell you, you are all the Squad, trust me,” Tlaib told the NAACP’s national convention in Detroit, The Hill reports.
However, impeachment seems exceedingly unlikely. The Democrats shot down an impeachment resolution introduced by Rep. Al Green (D-TX) amid the “go back” furor last week. Even with Robert Mueller slated to testify before Congress on Wednesday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) has never budged from opposing impeachment, and it’s hard to imagine that she will shift course, barring some dramatic bombshells from the special counsel.
Despite her obvious passion, Tlaib’s efforts to stop Trump’s election failed in Michigan, where he swung a narrow victory. It’s hard to imagine things will play out any differently for her dreams of removing Trump from office.
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