As Democrats rally to defend Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), Republican leaders are sounding off on just how troublesome her comments regarding the Holocaust were. On a recent podcast, Tlaib said she got a "calming feeling" when she considered how her Palestinian ancestors had often provided a "safe haven" for Jews. Republicans were shocked that Tlaib had dared to use the word "calming" in the same sentence as the Holocaust, but the likes of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Minority Whip Steny Hoyer claimed that the GOP was twisting Tlaib's words and taking them out of context.
If you read Rep. @RashidaTlaib’s comments, it is clear that President Trump and Congressional Republicans are taking them out of context. They must stop, and they owe her an apology.
— Steny Hoyer (@LeaderHoyer) May 13, 2019
According to House Republican Conference Chair Liz Cheney, there is no context that would make her remarks acceptable. She already told us how disgusted she was by the original orator, but now she is sounding off on Tlaib's supporters.
"I'm sorry that there are so many anti-Semitic members of the House Democratic caucus," Cheney said on "Fox and Friends" Tuesday morning. "And, we went yesterday from a situation where the Democratic leadership in the House had sort of been enabling this anti-Semitism by their silence. Yesterday was different. Yesterday we had both Speaker Pelosi and Majority Leader Hoyer stand up and defend those comments that you just played.""There is just no context in which it is okay to say that a calming feeling comes over you when you think about the Holocaust. It's sickening," she continued. "And then, of course, Representative Tlaib went on to talk about this view of history that is based on lies, exactly the kind of anti-Semitic lies that are spread to delegitimize the state of Israel. And, of course, the Palestinian leadership during World War II actually worked with Adolf Hitler. So it really has gone beyond the pale now with the leadership on the Democratic side in the House actually defending this kind of thing."
"I think most fourth graders know what the Holocaust was, and she apparently doesn't," Cheney added, before directing the Fox audience to read this article in the New York Post upending Tlaib's narrative about her ancestors.
President Trump agrees with the Republican chair and tweeted that Tlaib has made it quite clear what she thinks of the Jewish people.
Democrat Rep. Tlaib is being slammed for her horrible and highly insensitive statement on the Holocaust. She obviously has tremendous hatred of Israel and the Jewish people. Can you imagine what would happen if I ever said what she said, and says?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 13, 2019