Rep. Rashida Tlaib’s grandmother wished the worst for President Trump after he mocked her granddaughter over her canceled trip to the West Bank.
“Trump tells me I should be happy Rashida is not coming,” Muftia Tlaib told Reuters. “May God ruin him.”
Tlaib’s uncle Bassam Tlaib said the congresswoman and her grandmother had not seen each other since 2006.
“Rashida sees her granny as a second mother, she has always supported her. Rashida says she owes her success to her grandmother,” he said.
The president said a day earlier the Michigan Democrat’s grandmother was the “real winner” in Tlaib’s clash with the Israeli government over her now canceled visit to the Middle Eastern country.
The Israeli government earlier this week barred Tlaib and Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar from entering the country over their support for a boycott of Israel and after Trump told Israel it would be showing “great weakness” if it allowed the trip to move forward.
In a letter to Interior Minister Aryeh Deri on Thursday, Tlaib said it could be her “last opportunity” to see her 90-year-old grandmother.
“I will respect any restrictions and will not promote boycotts against Israel during my visit,” she wrote.
Israel said it would allow Tlaib to visit her grandmother if she honored her promise not to promote the boycott, divestment, and sanctions movement, which aims to end international support for Israel over its policies toward Palestinians, during her visit.
But Tlaib said Friday she would no longer be making the trip because of the “oppressive conditions meant to humiliate me.” She said the restrictions “would break my grandmother’s heart.”
Tlaib was emotional while speaking to supporters Friday in Detroit.
“I should be on a plane to see her,” she said through tears.
“My heart tells me that she will come,” Tlaib’s grandmother said.
