DES MOINES, Iowa — Rashida Tlaib didn’t quite apologize for booing Hillary Clinton during a campaign event for Bernie Sanders in Iowa.
“I allowed my disappointment with Secretary Clinton’s latest comments about Senator Sanders and his supporters get the best of me. You all, my sisters-in-service on stage, and our movement deserve better,” Tlaib tweeted Saturday morning, two days before the first-in-the-nation caucuses on Monday.
The Michigan Democrat added, “I will continue to strive to come from a place of love and not react in the same way of those who are against what we are building in this country. This is about building a just and equitable future for my two boys, children across the country, and future generations.”
My statement regarding last night:
“I am so incredibly in love with the movement that our campaign of #NotMeUs has created. This makes me protective over it and frustrated by attempts to dismiss the strength and diversity of our movement. (1/4)
— Rashida Tlaib (@RashidaTlaib) February 1, 2020
Late Friday, Tlaib, 43, joined House Democratic colleagues Reps. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota and Pramila Jayapal of Washington for a Sanders rally in Clive, Iowa, after the Vermont senator spent the last week pinned in the nation’s capital for President Trump’s impeachment trial.
While indie folk band Bon Iver headlined the event, the trio of lawmakers took the stage for a panel discussion. Moderator Dionna Langford, an Iowa-based activist, brought up Clinton’s remarks this month hinting that she was hesitant to support Sanders should he win the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination. The mere mention of Sanders’s 2016 primary opponent provoked a smattering of “boos” from the crowd, which Langford discouraged.
“You all know I can’t be quiet. No, we’re gonna boo,” Tlaib said in response. “That’s all right. The haters will shut up on Monday when we win.”
Though Clinton, 72, walked back her initial remarks, she told Emily Tisch Sussman on her podcast Your Primary Playlist that aired Friday that the behavior of Sanders supporters in 2016 was “distressing.”
“All the way up until the end, a lot of people highly identified with his campaign were urging people to vote third-party, urging people not to vote,” Clinton said.
Sanders, 78, is the front-runner in Iowa ahead of the kickoff nominating contest, recording a 3.6-percentage-point advantage on closest rival former Vice President Joe Biden, 77, according to RealClearPolitics data.
