Republican Rep. Mark Green of Tennessee alleged that Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan “obviously hates Jews more than she likes her grandmother” during a Tuesday afternoon appearance Outnumbered Overtime with Harris Faulkner.
Green was asked what he thought about the presser and whether or not Israel should face consequences from the United States over banning the congresswomen.
“That’s absolutely ridiculous. Pretty much everything that they said in their press conference was an absolute lie. They said they were denied because of their faith. I mean that’s crazy. Israel allows Muslims to transition their borders all the time. In fact, there are six Muslims on the Knesset, right now, serving in the Israeli Knesset. So that was just one of many lies,” Green responded.
“This grandmother visit, and the tears, she hadn’t visited her grandmother for 13 years prior to this. If she really wanted to go see her grandmother, she would have gone,” he continued. “Then when Israel gave her the choice, give her the opportunity and said, ‘Look, if you don’t get over there and incite stuff while you are in those territories, you can go.’ And she said ‘Oh no.’ Obviously she hates Jews more than she likes her grandmother. Obviously.”
Faulkner responded, “Oh my goodness,” and then focused on what Green said about the Knesset.
As Green referenced, Tlaib was granted permission to go to Israel to visit her grandmother on a “humanitarian request” if she promised not to “promote boycotts against Israel,” but she refused.
The congressman’s comments come amid a recent controversy for Tlaib and Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar. They were supposed to travel to Israel last week but the trip was canceled after the Israeli government barred the congresswomen from entering the country because of their support for a boycott of Israel. They held a press conference Monday to address the situation and took the opportunity to bash both President Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The president also weighed in on Tlaib’s decision not to travel to Israel despite gaining permission. “Rep. Tlaib wrote a letter to Israeli officials desperately wanting to visit her grandmother. Permission was quickly granted, whereupon Tlaib obnoxiously turned the approval down, a complete setup. The only real winner here is Tlaib’s grandmother. She doesn’t have to see her now!” he tweeted Friday.
Rep. Tlaib wrote a letter to Israeli officials desperately wanting to visit her grandmother. Permission was quickly granted, whereupon Tlaib obnoxiously turned the approval down, a complete setup. The only real winner here is Tlaib’s grandmother. She doesn’t have to see her now!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 16, 2019
