“Squad” Rep. Rashida Tlaib went off Wednesday on a Fox Business Network reporter who confronted the lawmaker about “Death to America” chants that sounded in her Michigan district last week.
Tlaib (D-Mich.), whose district includes the Detroit suburb of Dearborn — home to the largest population of Muslims per capita in the US — had been mum on the viral video of an Al-Quds Day rally April 5, during which participants chanted “Death to America” and “Death to Israel,” which drew national outrage and condemnation from the White House.
Tlaib was in no mood to talk when asked by FBN correspondent Hillary Vaughn about the shocking scene.
“I don’t talk to Fox News!” the congresswoman said, repeating the point several times.
“I don’t talk to people who use racist tropes,” Tlaib, 47, later chided after a couple of back-and-forths with Vaughn.
“Why can’t you just say whether you condemn people that say ‘Death to America’?” Vaughn tried again. “Why are you afraid to talk to Fox?”
“Fox News is not — listen, using racist tropes towards my community is what Fox News is about, and I don’t talk to Fox News,” Tlaib replied.
“Is ‘Death to America’ racist? Is chanting ‘Death to America’ racist?” Vaughn asked.
“I’m talking about your guys’ racist tropes,” Tlaib insisted as she walked into an elevator. “You know, you guys know exactly what you do and I know you’re Islamaphobic, but you guys gotta deal with it on your own selves, you’re not gonna use me.”
Tlaib is the first Palestinian American woman to serve in Congress and one of the first two female Muslim lawmakers elected to the House of Representatives alongside Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.).
The Michigan Democrat has drawn fierce backlash for her comments on Israel, including her defense of the phrase “From the river to the sea,” which refers to the land between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea. Critics contend the slogan is a call for the removal of the Jewish state from the map and the slaughter of its people.
In November, the House voted to censure Tlaib, in part because of her defense of that slogan, among other statements.
Tlaib had been one of the earliest proponents of a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war and even backed the “uncommitted” movement in Michigan, led by her sister, to protest President Biden, 81, in the Feb. 27 Democratic primary.
Over 100,000 Mitten State Democratic primary-goers marked themselves “uncommitted” in a stunning rebuke of Biden.
The Dearborn event was orchestrated by local activist Tarek Bazzi, who railed against “the United States government providing funds that allow the atrocities” and Israel’s “satanic actions.”
International Day of Al-Quds is held on the last Friday during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan as a pro-Palestinian event.
“The White House condemns these abhorrent and antisemitic remarks in the strongest terms,” White House spokesman Andrew Bates said in response to the viral video.
“As President Biden has said, America is the greatest nation on Earth and a beacon to the world.”
The Post contacted Tlaib’s office for comment.
Fox Business Network is owned by Fox Corporation, whose sister company, News Corporation, owns The Post.
