Tlaib loses it when asked in 2019 if Israel has right to exist: ‘You work for Netanyahu?!’
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FIRST ON FOX: A video purportedly from 2019 shows Rep. Rashida Tlaib, the progressive Democrat of Michigan, saying that Israel and the Palestinian people should “coexist” after being asked if the former has a right to exist.
In the video obtained by Fox News Digital, the Michigan representative is seen having a spirited conversation with a self-described “concerned Jewish constituent.”
“Separate but equal doesn’t work, it didn’t work with Blacks and Whites in our country, it shouldn’t work in Israel,” Tlaib says at the beginning of the clip. “Right?”
U.S. Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib listens to a question from a constituent during a Town Hall style meeting in Inkster, Michigan, U.S. August 15, 2019. (Reuters/Rebecca Cook)
The person who took the video, who asked not to be publicly identified, pressed the Squad member, asking, “So would that be a right for Israel to exist?”
“Do they pay you guys?” Tlaib responded. “Do you work for Netanyahu?”
I’M A PROUD DEMOCRAT. MY PARTY HAS AN ANTISEMITISM PROBLEM
A video of Rep. Rashida Tlaib surfaced from December 2019 of the progressive Democrat sharing if Israel has the right to exist. (Fox News Digital)
The questioner informs the representative that she is an American citizen, pressing Tlaib for an answer.
“Would you like to answer the question?” Tlaib is asked. “Congresswoman, it’s really concerning for me that you can’t just say that you believe Israel should exist.”
“…it’s really concerning for me that you can’t just say that you believe Israel should exist.”
Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib speaks during the Get Out the Vote Rally in Detroit. (SOPA Images)
At that point, Tlaib asks the interviewer if she understands what “coexist” means.
“Oh, my God. Do you understand what that means?” the Congresswoman asks. “To coexist.”
“I absolutely do,” the questioner replied.
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The representative continued, saying, “Why isn’t that beautiful? That should mean coexist. That means everyone should feel safe, no matter who they are, or [what] their background is.”
“So the Jews would have a state that they felt safe in?” the questioner followed up.
“If it means my grandmother can’t exist equally as a human being then, no. Right?” Tlaib says, entering a crowded elevator.
“So coexist. Separate but equal doesn’t work,” she said as the elevator doors closed.
Rep. Rashida Tlaib displays a Palestinian flag in front of her congressional office on Tuesday, October 10, 2023. (Fox News Digital/Houston Keene)
Tlaib has faced backlash over her stance in the ongoing conflict between Hamas and Israel, drawing condemnation not just from Republicans but also from the White House.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre slammed the comments of Tlaib and other progressive Democrats in Congress.
“I’ve seen some of those statements this weekend, and we’re going to continue to be very clear. We believe they’re wrong, we believe they’re repugnant, and we believe they’re disgraceful,” Jean-Pierre said when asked for the administration’s reaction to comments made by Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y. and Rep. Cori Bush, D-Mo.
“Our condemnation belongs squarely with terrorists who have brutally murdered, raped, kidnapped hundreds, hundreds of Israelis. There can be no equivocation about that. There are not two sides here. There are not two sides,” she added.
In a statement on Oct. 8, a day after the surprise attack from Hamas on Israel, Tlaib said, “I grieve the Palestinian and Israeli lives lost yesterday, today, and every day. I am determined as ever to fight for a just future where everyone can live in peace, without fear and with true freedom, equal rights, and human dignity.”
“The path to that future must include lifting the blockade, ending the occupation, and dismantling the apartheid system that creates the suffocating, dehumanizing conditions that can lead to resistance. The failure to recognize the violent reality of living under siege, occupation, and apartheid makes no one safer. No person, no child anywhere should have to suffer or live in fear of violence. We cannot ignore the humanity in each other. As long as our country provides billions in unconditional funding to support the apartheid government, this heartbreaking cycle of violence will continue,” Tlaib said.
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Tlaib also came under fire amid the Hamas terror attack in Israel for flying a Palestinian flag outside her Capitol Hill office. The flag has been there since at least January 2023, but observers were outraged the flag remained following the recent carnage.
Multiple requests for comment to Tlaib’s office went unreturned Saturday.
Fox News’ Brandon Gillespie contributed to this report.
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