Donald Trump has done his best to divide the country by race, political party, and religion. First of all, every person on earth is a member of the same race. We are all just variations on the same song. The president’s hatred for people of color and those of a different religion has inspired violence as the amount of hate speech increases and the number of shootings soars. This is just his latest.
The president has had a Twitter campaign against the first Muslim woman elected, Representative Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) ever since she took office in January. He just tweeted that she is “horrible and highly insensitive,” and he wrongly claimed she had “tremendous hatred of Israel and the Jewish people,” CNN reported:
‘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?’
The Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Dannon attacked her, too. Then, Representative Liz Cheney (R-WY) jumped on the train of hate, calling Tlaib has crossed “the line.” The Wyoming representative even called for Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and other Democrats to “take action” against Tlaib. The daughter of former vice president Dick Cheney (R-WY) misquoted Tlaib to buttress her point:
‘Surely now
@SpeakerPelosi & @LeaderHoyer will finally take action against vile anti-Semitism in their ranks. This must cross the line, even for them. Rashida Tlaib says thinking of the Holocaust provides her a “calming feeling”’
‘There’s kind of a calming feeling I always tell folks when I think of the Holocaust, and the tragedy of the Holocaust, and the fact that it was my ancestors, Palestinians, who lost their land and some lost their lives, their livelihood, their human dignity, their existence in many ways, have been wiped out, and some people’s passports.’
She went only speaking about the purpose of creating “a safe haven for Jews:”
‘I mean, just 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, and I love the fact that it was my ancestors that provided that, right, in many ways. But they did it in a way that took their human dignity away, right, and it was forced on them. And so when I think about a one-state, I think about the fact that, why couldn’t we do it in a better way?’
When asked whether advocating for a one-state solution could be seen as reckless, Tlaib replied, “No, I’m coming from a place of love, for equality and justice, I truly am.”
‘I want a safe haven for Jews. Who doesn’t want to be safe? I am humbled by the fact that it was my ancestors that had to suffer for that to happen, but I will not turn my back and allow others to hijack it and say that it’s some extremist approach because they’re coming from a place of… whatever it is… of division, inequality.’
Tlaib tweeted another response saying that those who have tried to silence her “will fail miserably:”
‘Policing my words, twisting & turning them to ignite vile attacks on me will not work,” she tweeted later Sunday. “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.’
The representative’s spokesperson Denzel McCampbell also released a statement to clarify Tlaib’s remarks:
‘The Congresswoman did not in any way praise the Holocaust, nor did she say the Holocaust itself brought a calming feeling to her. In fact, she repeatedly called the Holocaust a tragedy and a horrific persecution of Jewish people.’
