Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI-13) is doubling down on her controversial call to “impeach the motherf—” even after both Democrats and Republicans alike described her language as unhelpful.
Tlaib sat down with WDIV-TV Detroit on Friday to discuss her comments, but only after she was recorded Thursday running away from reporters on Capitol Hill.
“I stand by impeaching the president of the United States. I ran on that,” she said Friday, stating that she believes President Donald Trump’s businesses are improperly benefiting from his presidency.
“I think what’s really important is for people to focus on the fact that we do have a president of the United States right now that has not divested [from] any of his corporations,” Tlaib said. “He’s literally running his companies as a CEO from the White House, and what that means is that he’s making decisions not in the best interest of the American people, but the best interest of himself and the bottom line of his companies.”
Tlaib stood by her explicit remarks, which she said is “probably exactly how [her] grandmother, if she was alive, would say it.”
“I am very passionate and I grew up in an incredibly beautiful, urban community—the city of Detroit, born and raised. We say say, you know, colorful things in interesting ways. The president of the United States is my focus. The residents back home are my focus,” she said. Tlaib believes that grounds for Trump’s impeachment go “way beyond what the Mueller investigation’s trying to attempt to do now.”
She went on to state that she “very much” holds “dearly” her plans to pursue impeachment, which she claims is supported by her constituents.
“They love that I’m real, and that I am very much focused on getting the government back up and running, but also making sure we’ve held the president of the United States accountable,” Tlaib added.
During a Friday press conference, Trump called Tlaib’s comments “disgraceful,” saying she “dishonored herself and her family.”
Several of Tlaib’s Democratic colleagues also disagreed with her comments, including Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY-10), who said it’s “too early to talk about that intelligently.”
“I think some of our new members probably don’t realize that you are always on, that when you are a member of Congress, there’s always someone listening,” Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL-09) agreed.
But Tlaib thinks that most of her colleagues would agree that they “need to hold [Trump] accountable to every single action that he makes.”
“This is a new era of the social justice movement,” she said. “This is the largest incoming class of members of Congress since Watergate.”
– – –
Anthony Gockowski is managing editor of Battleground State News and The Minnesota Sun. Follow Anthony on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Rashida Tlaib” by Rashida Tlaib.
