President Donald Trump criticized Michigan Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI-13) Tuesday during a speech where he called her a “lunatic” after watching a video of her being thrown out of a 2016 Trump rally.
The video showed Tlaib being removed by security guards at Detroit’s Cobo Center. While leaving, she yelled “you guys are crazy” at Trump supporters. In response, a person called her an “animal” and told her “to get a job.”
“There is no way she stands for the values of the people of Michigan. But I watched her this morning. She’s vicious. She’s like a crazed lunatic,” Trump said at the Turning Point USA’s Teen Student Action Summit.
“She starts screaming, and this is not a sane person, folks, when you look at that. And this is what we’re up against,” he added.
Donald Trump took jabs at Freshmen Democrats Rashida Tlaib, AOC and Ilhan Omar when speaking to young conservatives at the Turning Point USA Teen Action Summit.
Earlier today, he predicted Omar’s remarks would give him the edge to win Minnesota in 2020 https://t.co/XlmbeYUwbD pic.twitter.com/H0QMFQphdj
— POLITICO (@politico) July 23, 2019
At the 2016 Trump rally, Tlaib and at least 14 other protesters were removed from the event. Other protesters yelled at the future president “tiny hands, tiny hands” and “racist,” according to MLive. At the time, Tlaib was a former Michigan state legislator turned non-profit public interest lawyer.
Another video of the incident shows Trump staying calm while Tlaib is taken away by security. She is shown shouting at him while he is at the podium looking at her. After her removal, Trump tells the crowd, “I will say, the Bernie Sanders people had far more energy and spirit.”
Democrat Rashida Tlaib exploded at then-candidate Donald Trump as he gave his economic policy speech on 08/08/2016 at the Detroit Economic Club
Notice how Trump is calm and does not agitate the situation as Tlaib has a public meltdown and has to be physically removed by security pic.twitter.com/ielSryzNFV
— Ryan Saavedra (@RealSaavedra) July 21, 2019
After the incident, Tlaib wrote a guest column in the Detroit Free Press on August 16.
“I have heard critics calling it unbecoming of a former state legislator. Well, I believe it is unbecoming of any American to not stand up to Trump’s hate-filled rhetoric and tactics,” she wrote.
The Michigan representative explained what she told the president at the 2016 rally.
“I told Trump that ‘our children deserve better’ and I asked him to provide a better example to our kids. I implored him to read the U.S. Constitution. And then I was grabbed by several security personnel who physically moved me to the exit while I continued to express my concerns.”
Since arriving in Washington, D.C. in 2018, Tlaib has continued to be critical of Trump. In early 2019, a video showed Tlaib calling the president obscenities and vowing to pursue impeachment.
“I’m not going nowhere, not until I impeach this president,” she said at the NAACP Annual Convention Monday.
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Zachery Schmidt is the digital editor of Battleground State News. Follow Zachery on Twitter.
Photo “Donald Trump” by Gage Skidmore. CC BY-SA 2.0. Photo “Rashida Tlaib” by Rashida Tlaib. Background Photo “Rashida Tlaib Removal” by Dcx Web.
