Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), the first Palestinian-American woman elected to Congress, refused once more to apologize for her profanity-laden pledge to impeach President Donald Trump — but did express regret that the remark became a “distraction.”
“I am a person that is authentically me,” Tlaib said during her remarks at an event for the Michigan Veterans Foundation on Tuesday. “I’m very passionate about fighting for all of us, and the use of that language was a teachable moment for me.”
Rep. Tlaib on "impeach the motherf—er" comment: "I don’t want anything that I do or say distract us. And that’s the only thing I will apologize for, is that it was a distraction … I want you to know that I will never apologize for being me, and for being passionate and upset" pic.twitter.com/4Mp7nbvPZR
— NBC News (@NBCNews) January 8, 2019
“I understand I am a member of Congress. And I don’t want anything that I do or say to distract us. That is the only thing I apologize for, is that it was a distraction,” the freshman congresswoman added. “We have a course that we have to stick to, and nothing I say should distract us from that. The shutdown has to be at the forefront, that’s what I am here for, to shift to. This is so much more important.”
During the event for veterans, Tlaib discussed the partial shutdown’s effect on government workers and the impact on her constituents.
“It’s a critical moment for us in our country to fully grasp the human toll that this shutdown has in our communities,” said Tlaib.
“As we enter the third week of this shutdown, we are still waiting for the United States Senate to take action and for the president to signal a willingness to end this harm not only for our federal workers but for our families and resident impacted by government programs they need today,” she added.
Tlaib’s pledge left many fellow Democrats unhappy, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who said she does not condone Michigan Democrat’s coarse language. In a town hall event broadcasted on MSNBC, Pelosi reminded viewers that Tlaib’s impeachment pledge does not represent the Democrat caucus’s position on the hot button issue.
Asked about the remark in a Rose Graden press conference, President Trump said Tlaib “dishonored” both the United States and her family.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) slammed the reaction to the Tlaib’s pledge and vowed to protect her fellow freshman congresswoman from what she described as “faux outrage” stirred by Republicans. “Republican hypocrisy at its finest: saying that Trump admitting to sexual assault on tape is just ‘locker room talk,’ but scandalizing themselves into faux-outrage when my sis says a curse word in a bar,” tweeted Ocasio-Cortez over the weekend.
“GOP lost entitlement to policing women’s behavior a long time ago. Next,” the Democratic-Socialist continued.
In a subsequent tweet, the self-avowed Democrat-socialist then told Tlaib that she has her back, proclaiming that the Bronx and Detroit “ride together.”
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