Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) stated during an interview on Saturday that President Donald Trump is afraid of her and three of her fellow far-left colleagues in the House, collectively known as the “Squad.”
“It’s been very clear to me, especially this last week, that he’s scared of us,” Tlaib told The Guardian, referring to Squad members Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Ilhan Omar (D-MN), and Ayanna Pressley (D-MA).
“He’s afraid of women of color,” she continued. “Because we’re not afraid of him and we’re not afraid to speak up and say that we have a white supremacist in the White House who has a hate agenda.”
“He’s afraid because we have a real agenda for the American people,” Tlaib added.
Tlaib’s remarks come roughly a week after the Israeli government blocked herself and Omar from entering the country over their avowed support of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement. The two freshman lawmakers are the first Muslim women elected to the U.S. Congress and their time in office has been embroiled in allegations of anti-Semitism.
Following Israel’s announcement that the duo would be denied entry, Trump praised the decision. Both Tlaib and Omar subsequently attacked the Jewish state for its “inhumane” treatment and further accused the country of being “oppressive” and “racist.”
Days later, they held a press conference where they continued their onslaught. During the presser, Omar suggested Israel was neither a democracy nor a U.S. ally. Tlaib, however, got emotional over her own decision not to visit the country after Israel subsequently permitted the Michigan congresswoman entry to visit her family in the West Bank on a humanitarian request.
“Sorry, I don’t buy Rep. Tlaib’s tears. I have watched her violence, craziness and, most importantly, WORDS for far too long,” Trump responded to the press conference. “Now tears? She hates Israel and all Jewish people. She is an anti-Semite. She and her 3 friends are the new face of the Democratic Party. Live with it!”
The so-called Squad, however, routinely accuses individuals who disagree with them of being resentful toward women of color. Ocasio-Cortez even accused the Israeli government of racism and sexism after it barred Omar and Tlaib.
GOP Conference Chair Liz Cheney (R-WY), the highest-ranking female Republican in the House, has repeatedly called out the four freshmen progressives for accusing their political opposition of having a bias against women of color.
“The fact that they are Muslim women has zero to do with this. The issue is their vile anti-Semitism and support of a movement dedicated to the destruction of the state of Israel,” Cheney said. “And [Ocasio-Cortez] should realize she hurts all women every time she claims phony gender discrimination.”
Cheney’s condemnation comes only a month after she gave an address at the U.S. Capitol where she again rebuked the Squad for frequently proclaiming their political opposition is bred from racial animus rather than difference in ideas.
“Our opposition to our socialist colleagues has absolutely nothing to do with their gender, with their religion, or with their race,” Cheney said in July. “It has to do with the content of their policies.”