Michigan Democrat Rep. Rashida Tlaib is happy to take the time to condemn what she calls the "racist tropes" used by Fox News, but can't be bothered to speak out against chants of "death to America" spoken in her own district.
That would appear to be the conclusion from a brief Capitol Hill exchange between Tlaib and Fox Business reporter Hillary Vaughn shared in an X post by Fox host Jesse Watters on Wednesday evening.
Watters introduced the segment by showing a clip of what he described as "pro-Hamas protesters at a Ramadan rally in Dearborn, Michigan."
In the clip, men who were not on camera could be heard repeatedly shouting what sounded like, "almawt li'amrika," Arabic for "death to America," which is how Fox translated the phrase.
"Not a great look," Watters said. "The mayor condemned it. The White House condemned it.
"But what about Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib? ... Is she OK with her constituents chanting death to America?" he asked.
He then cut to video of Vaughn trying to get an answer to that question from the Michigan Democrat.
Tlaib essentially ignored the question, repeating variations of "I don't talk to Fox News" before talking to Fox News. (Politicians just can't help but pontificate when a camera is pointed in their direction, I suppose.)
"I don't talk to people who use racist tropes," she claimed -- doing exactly what she claimed not to do, of course.
She then struggled to get another sentence or two out -- something about accusing Fox of using racist terms about her "community," by which one assumes she meant Muslims, who are not a race -- and finally reverted to claiming again that she doesn't do what she was in the process of doing, i.e. talk to Fox News.
"You guys know exactly what you do," she claimed, labeling the entire network "Islamophobic" as she retreated into an elevator.
You can watch the entire exchange below.
Rashida Tlaib REALLY doesn't want to talk to Fox News! pic.twitter.com/7HAXXn7SKR
— Jesse Watters (@JesseBWatters) April 11, 2024
One would think that condemning a statement like "death to America" should be an easy move for a sitting House member, but that's assuming that politicians think of their primary jobs as working for the best interests of their constituents and the nation.
That's not how most of them think, however. The majority of our elected representatives, as soon as they get into office, get immediately to work ... trying to win re-election.
So something like this is rough for Tlaib to navigate. Any thinking American should condemn a statement like "death to the country that protects my right to call for its death," but Tlaib risks alienating her voters -- and, perhaps more importantly, her donors -- if she does that.
It's frankly deplorable that her voters have put her in that position, but it's hardly unique to Tlaib -- pretty much every politician ever elected is forced to approve of that which should never be approved, or at least to look the other way. This example is more onerous than most, more obviously worthy of condemnation, but there's nothing new under the sun, as a wise man once wrote. Politicians have been navigating these waters for millennia.
One could almost feel sorry for Tlaib.
Almost.
