Rashida Tlaib Officially Punished by Congress as 22 Democrats Side with Republicans
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A bipartisan vote in the House Nov. 7 censured Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan for “promoting false narratives” and “calling for the destruction of the state of Israel.”
The resolution to censure Tlaib was introduced a day earlier by Republican Rep. Rich McCormick of Georgia following Tlaib’s repeated comments criticizing Israel for its response to terrorist attacks by Hamas on Oct. 7.
After a motion to table the resolution failed, the House advanced the final vote on the measure to later the evening of Nov. 7, where it passed by a vote of 234 yeas to 188 nays, with four members voting present and seven not voting.
Twenty-two Democrats voted in favor of the resolution to censure Tlaib, while four Republicans voted against the resolution.
Tlaib appeared unapologetic for her behavior.
“It is a shame that my colleagues are focused on silencing me than they are on saving lives, as the death toll in Gaza surpasses 10,000,” she wrote in a social media post ahead of the vote.
“A majority of Americans support a ceasefire, but Congress isn’t listening to their voices,” she claimed.
My statement on the efforts to silence me: pic.twitter.com/RRPRfEBrYz
— Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib (@RepRashida) November 7, 2023
McCormick maintained that censure was necessary.
“We must do the right thing and hold those in the people’s house to account,” he wrote on a social media post when he introduced the resolution.
We must do the right thing and hold those in the people’s house to account. pic.twitter.com/OiUoaY9PLd
— Congressman Rich McCormick, MBA MD (@RepMcCormick) November 6, 2023
“This is because of inaccurate statements and inflammatory rhetoric that have literally said a nation, a strong ally of ours, Israel, should not exist,” he said in a video with that post.
Tlaib’s public sympathies for the Palestinian cause and open antipathy toward Israel — one of the United States’ closest allies — has made her a target of criticism from not only Republicans and conservatives but Democrats as well.
Her public statements since the Oct. 7 massacre in southern Israel by the terrorist group Hamas have been particularly controversial, including her endorsement of the Palestinian slogan “from the river to the sea, Palestine must be free,” which is seen as an endorsement of the idea that the state of Israel should not exist.
“From the river to the sea is an aspirational call for freedom, human rights, and peaceful coexistence, not death, destruction, or hate. My work and advocacy is always centered in justice and dignity for all people no matter faith or ethnicity,” Tlaib wrote in a social media post.
So far, only one other member of the 118th Congress, Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff of California, has been censured. That resolution passed on a on a party-line vote in June.
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