Rashida Tlaib, an American-born Muslim, was sworn in Jan. 3 with her left hand on her own copy of the Quran amid explanations by a number of media outlets that she has been unapologetic about her faith from the start of her campaign.
Later that evening she showed her unapologetic hatred of President Trump, recounting a conversation about him she had with her young son after she won her election in November.
Speaking to a crowd of supporters, the Michigan Democrat recalled that her son said, “‘Momma, look you won. Bullies don’t win.'”
“And I said, ‘Baby, they don’t, because we’re gonna go in there and we’re gonna impeach the m—–f—–,’” she announced to cheers.
It is not clear whether she was conceding she used profanity in front of her son or if she was merely adding vulgar commentary to stir emotions among the approving crowd.
Tlaib is the first Palestinian-American woman to serve in Congress and also is a member of the Democractic Socialists of America.
In December she joined a fellow Muslim woman elected to Congress, Ilhan Omar, a Democrat from Minnesota, to mock Vice President Pence’s Christian faith via Twitter. Tlaib “liked” a tweet by Omar showing a photo of Pence with his eyes closed as if in prayer, accompanied with the caption, “Jesus take the wheel!” in apparent reference to the White House meeting among the president and congressional leaders about border security and the government shutdown.
In 2015, Michigan repealed a law on the books for 118 years that made it illegal to curse in front of children. But, Michigan law still prohibits the harassment of “another person because of that person’s race, color, religion, gender, or national origin.” However, mocking someone’s religion via social media does not meet the standards of “physical contact,” the damage of “real or personal property,” or threat of harm that are contained in that law.
In March 2016 then-candidate Trump was soundly criticized by the mainstream media when he stated on CNN, “I think Islam hates us. There’s something there that — there’s a tremendous hatred there. There’s a tremendous hatred. We have to get to the bottom of it. There’s an unbelievable hatred of us.”
Links:
https://www.cnsnews.com/blog/patrick-goodenough/incoming-muslim-congresswomen-mock-pences-christian-faith
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/democrats-call-for-impeachment-on-first-day-of-new-congress
https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/03/politics/rashida-tlaib-breaking-barriers/index.html
https://www.pri.org/stories/2019-01-03/two-reps-are-being-sworn-quran-it-s-symbolic-moment-muslim-americans
http://www.legislature.mi.gov/(S(bu4ir4pjif5xj25bd30svjhk))/mileg.aspx?page=GetMCLDocument&objectname=mcl-750-147b
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2017/05/20/i-think-islam-hates-us-a-timeline-of-trumps-comments-about-islam-and-muslims/?utm_term=.f77a9c47069c
