Rep. Rashida Tlaib said she will not formally endorse Joe Biden’s presidential bid because she doesn’t want to clash with her constituents over whether he is the right man for the job.
The Michigan Democrat, who is a member of the so-called “Squad” alongside Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, and Ayanna Pressley, said on Monday that she is focused on her own reelection bid and does not feel as though she needs to endorse Biden because her voters will likely vote for him anyway.
“Right now, I’m focused on my election, my constituents, and my residents. One thing that I know is I’m going to be really focused on turnout in the fall. When I focus on turnout, we will deliver Michigan to Joe Biden. Trump only won Michigan by 10,000 votes. When I turn out my folks and my district, we’ll be able to take back the state. When you focus primarily on getting people out to vote in a district like mine, [Biden] wins,” she told Newsweek.
“If there is one person who wants Donald Trump out of the White House, it’s me. And I’m going to work extremely hard. I don’t have to have a campaign plan for November because I have a safe Democratic seat, but I’m going to [campaign]. Why? Because my residents cannot afford another four years of Trump. They just can’t,” she added.
Tlaib, who endorsed Bernie Sanders in the Democratic primary, said that some of her constituents have had concerns about Biden as the party’s presumptive nominee. She said that she doesn’t want her constituents to get “bogged down” with concerns about an endorsement of Biden.
“If the ultimate goal is to get rid of Donald Trump, that doesn’t have to involve me actually endorsing Biden. My constituents don’t need to be bogged down in, ‘Is he the best candidate?’ That’s not what you have to convince my residents. They need to come out in droves and be inspired by something. And that is going to be a vote against Donald Trump,” she said.
Tlaib faces a tough primary race for the Democratic nomination in a rematch race against Detroit City Council President Brenda Jones, whom she beat for the open seat in 2018. Michigan’s primary election takes place on Aug. 4.
