WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump and House Republicans are criticizing a Democratic freshman for her remarks about the Holocaust and the creation of Israel.
Michigan Democrat Rashida Tlaib told a Yahoo News podcast that she gets "a calming feeling" when she thinks of how her Palestinian ancestors suffered to create the state of Israel. She said: "All of it was in the name of trying to create a safe haven for Jews, post-the Holocaust, post-the tragedy and the horrific persecution of Jews across the world at that time."
Trump tweeted Tlaib "obviously has tremendous hatred of Israel and the Jewish people." That echoed earlier comments by House Republicans. Tlaib said Republicans were twisting her words to create "vile attacks" on her.
Democrat Rep. Tlaib is being slammed for her horrible and highly insensitive statement on the Holocaust. She obviously has tremendous hatred of Israel and the Jewish people. Can you imagine what would happen if I ever said what she said, and says?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 13, 2019
Tlaib released this statement:
“The Holocaust was a horrific persecution of Jewish people and should be remembered as such, nothing short of that. While I conveyed these sentiments during Yahoo’s Skullduggery’s Podcast, it’s shameful that right-wing extremists and GOP leadership, including President Trump, have twisted and misconstrued my words to spread falsehoods rooted in hate.
“Trump has doubled down on his party’s use of the Holocaust to score political points. Instead of recognizing that the accusations against me are false and that my words have been blatantly misconstrued, Trump has once again used his platform to incite hate and violence based on lies.
“This is yet another attempt by the administration and the GOP to try to distract from their horrible policies, lawless acts, and actual anti-Semitic rhetoric. The Republican Party does not have a plan to fix the country’s crumbling infrastructure, they are working to strip healthcare from those with pre-existing conditions, and they are pushing an agenda that is extremist and not what Americans want.
“Anti-Semitism has no place in our society and any effort to try to sow hate and divisiveness into our political discourse must be stopped immediately in its tracks. Hate and violence will not move this country forward. Only inclusive leadership and confronting the truth about the growing white nationalist movement in our country will move us forward. Unfortunately, we are not seeing it from President Trump nor his Republican Party.”
Following backlash from her statement, Tlaib posted a tweet saying, in part, "Policing my words, twisting & turning them to idnite vile attacks on me will not work."
Policing my words, twisting & turning them to ignite vile attacks on me will not work. All of you who are trying to silence me will fail miserably. I will never allow you to take my words out of context to push your racist and hateful agenda. The truth will always win.
— Rashida Tlaib (@RashidaTlaib) May 13, 2019
