Rep. Rashida Tlaib's (D-MI) had not even clocked in a full 24 hours as a congresswoman before making enemies in Washington, including several in her own party. On Thursday night, hours after being sworn in to the 116th Congress, Tlaib grabbed a microphone and pledged to impeach President Trump, whom she referred to as a "mother f***er."
Veterans Democrats in the House noted how...unhelpful her little speech was.
"You can't accomplish very much of anything unless you have civility and show respect for your colleagues," Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD) said. "Those kind of comments do not take us in the right direction."
Cummings, who takes over as new chairman of the House Oversight and Reform Committee, added that Tlaib's comments were "inappropriate."
"We need to be patient," he said, whatever that means.
Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) had some of the same complaints.
House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler on Rashida Tlaib's vow to impeach Trump: "I don't really like that kind of language, but more to the point, I disagree with what she said. It is too early to talk about that intelligently. We have to follow the facts" https://t.co/Ctwc5n4hGK pic.twitter.com/OsCOTQnuj2
— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) January 4, 2019
Even Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA), who introduced actual articles of impeachment against Trump, was appalled by Tlaib's remarks.
“That’s not language I would use," he said. "I think the office of the presidency should be treated with respect.”
If only the Democratic leadership took such a strong stance on Tlaib's language. When asked to respond to the freshman representative's comments, the best Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi could come up with was, "I'm not in the censorship business," before pivoting to criticize President Trump's language.
"Generationally, that would not be language I would use, but nonetheless, I don’t think we should make a big deal of it," Pelosi said, adding that what Tlaib said was "nothing worse" than what's come out of the president's mouth.
Pelosi did say, "impeachment is a very divisive approach to take and we shouldn’t take it." But in another recent interview she suggested Trump could be indicted in the Robert Mueller probe.
Take a look at her Twitter and you'll see Tlaib has no plans to apologize.
I will always speak truth to power. #unapologeticallyMe
— Rashida Tlaib (@RashidaTlaib) January 4, 2019