Democratic Party leaders are not demanding that Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) apologize for offensive remarks about the Holocaust. Instead, they are demanding that Republicans apologize to her for their outraged reactions to her comments.
On Saturday, Tlaib told the Skulduggery podcast that she had a “calming feeling” when thinking about the Holocaust because, she claimed (falsely), Palestinians had provided “a safe haven for Jews.” Tlaib brought up the Holocaust in answer to a question about her support for a “one-state solution” that would replace Israel with a Palestinian state.
Republicans were sharply critical of Tlaib, who has a history of antisemitic and anti-Israel rhetoric. Some focused on her odd remark about a “calming feeling”; others attacked her revisionist history of the Holocaust and the Palestinian response. As even CNN noted, Palestinian Arab leadership collaborated with Hitler and opposed Jewish immigration.
Rather than criticizing Tlaib, Democrats circled the wagons — and demanded that they apologize to her:
Republicans’ desperate attempts to smear @RepRashida & misrepresent her comments are outrageous. President @realDonaldTrump & House GOP should apologize to Rep. Tlaib & the American people for their gross misrepresentations.
— Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) May 13, 2019
If you read Rep. @RashidaTlaib’s comments, it is clear that President Trump and Congressional Republicans are taking them out of context. They must stop, and they owe her an apology.
— Steny Hoyer (@LeaderHoyer) May 13, 2019
We must stand up and speak out when Republicans attempt to divide us. Their efforts to twist @RepRashida’s words and use faith as a weapon are unconscionable.
— James E. Clyburn (@WhipClyburn) May 13, 2019
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) struck a similar tone:
Mr. President: Stop dividing the American people up by their religion, their race or their country of origin–and stop your ugly attacks against Muslim women in Congress. You are taking Rep. @RashidaTlaib‘s comments out of context and should apologize. https://t.co/QlYNn46zXQ
— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) May 13, 2019
Tlaib issued a statement reiterating her false historical claims and accused her critics of racism and Islamophobia.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. He is also the co-author of How Trump Won: The Inside Story of a Revolution, which is available from Regnery. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
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