Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) claimed Tuesday that the Senate would have convicted President Donald Trump during his impeachment and removed him from office if he were a person of color like her.
Speaking to Democracy Now! host Amy Goodman, Tlaib claimed that not just Trump should be held accountable, but also anyone in Congress who “enabled him.”
“I think many of us are obviously concerned, but it’s just a continuation of this administration,” Tlaib said of the lockdown and recent upheaval in Washington, D.C. “I mean, the Trump administration hasn’t fully been transparent, nor have they had moral values—I don’t care if it’s around pardons, death penalty. There’s just been a wave of increased, I think, hate in this violent agenda by this current administration. So I’m not surprised, as all of us who were celebrating the legacy of Dr. King, that he was yet still signing a number of executive orders, and then also continuing with appointments and other kinds of measures that are pretty unprecedented.”
Tlaib then alleged that Trump will continue to stoke violent insurrection even after leaving office. “He has spewed out this agenda, that I don’t think is going to go anywhere. I think he’s going to continue to lead this type of — what are people calling — insurrection; I call it violent attacks on our country. And so, I think it’s really important that we, as a country, realize accountability is extremely important here, from those in Congress that enabled him, from those that continue to support him, that they all need to be held equally accountable, as well as Donald Trump.”
“I hope that there’s an awakening in the Senate,” Tlaib continued, “but I’ve been waiting for that awakening to happen for quite a while, for Leader McConnell and many others to finally say, ‘Enough is enough,’ and impeach and convict the forever-impeached, twice, President Donald Trump. What he did was pretty unprecedented.”
“And, Amy, I have to be honest: If it was somebody that looked like me, if it was President Barack Obama, there would be no question that he would be held accountable,” Tlaib went on. “He would be convicted. He would be removed from office. He would never, ever be able to run again. He wouldn’t ever be able to get public benefits. He has truly sent us on a dangerous path that I don’t thing is going to go away very easily even after he leaves office.”
WATCH:
.@RashidaTlaib suggests that if President Trump wasn't white, he would be convicted by the Senate.
“If it was somebody that looked like me, if it was President Barack Obama, there would be no question that he would be held accountable, he would be convicted…” pic.twitter.com/bOOwqui2pn
— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) January 19, 2021
Tlaib, who was elected in 2018 to represent Michigan’s 13th Congressional District, called for Trump’s impeachment on her first day in office. Speaking to a crowd of supporters in January 2019, Tlaib said, “People love you and you win. And when your son looks at you and says, ‘Momma, look you won. Bullies don’t win.’ And I said, ‘Baby, they don’t, because we’re gonna go in there and we’re gonna impeach the mother****er.’”
WATCH:
Congresswoman @RashidaTlaib tells cheering crowd that Trump impeachment coming
“We’re going to go in and impeach the motherfucker” pic.twitter.com/oQJYqR78IA
— Jon Levine (@LevineJonathan) January 4, 2019