Embattled Rep. Rashida Tlaib, who drew backlash this week over comments about the creation of Israel, will become the first Muslim American woman to preside over the House floor this afternoon.
Tlaib, a freshman, is scheduled to wield the gavel at 3:30 p.m. when the House votes on a tribal lands bill that Trump last week urged lawmakers to block.
Tlaib, D-Mich., has been under intense criticism, particularly from House Republicans, over her remarks during a podcast suggesting Palestinians are responsible for creating a safe haven for Jews.
“There’s kind of a calming feeling I always tell folks when I think of the Holocaust, and the tragedy of the Holocaust, and the fact that it was my ancestors, Palestinians, who lost their land and some lost their lives, their livelihood, their human dignity, their existence in many ways, have been wiped out, and some people’s passports,” Tlaib said on the Yahoo News podcast, “Skullduggery.”
The Institute for Middle East Understanding, a pro-Palestinian nonprofit group, said in a statement Tlaib’s time with the gavel comes on “Nakba Day, when Palestinians commemorate the expulsion of approximately 750,000 Palestinians during the establishment of Israel in 1948.”
House Republicans and President Trump have condemned Tlaib’s remarks. Republicans say they reflect a pattern of anti-Semitic tweets and statements from House Democrats, in particular Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn.
Omar and Tlaib are the first Muslim American women to serve in Congress.
Democratic leaders have rallied behind Tlaib, arguing her comments were misrepresented.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., have called on the GOP and President Trump to apologize to Tlaib.
The fight between Tlaib and Republicans escalated yesterday when Tlaib said those who misinterpreted what she said are “racist idiots,” that required her to speak at a fourth-grade level.
Omar, who has fielded significant criticism over her own comments and tweets about Jews, told MSNBC the GOP criticism is “designed to silence, sideline, and sort of almost eliminate the public voice of Muslims from the public discourse.”
Pelosi ultimately controls the floor and who can preside over the chamber.
But Tlaib’s turn with the gavel was decided by House freshmen, who set the schedule for their group, a Pelosi aide said.
