Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) said she has a “number of issues” with President Joe Biden and does not know if she can support his reelection campaign for 2024.
Tlaib, who has been one of the most vocally critical of the Biden administration for its support of Israel in its war against Hamas, said, “The struggle that I have with the president is a number of issues” and that many of her Middle Eastern constituents “feel invisible to the government.”
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“And that’s something I need to have a conversation with [President Biden] about,” Tlaib said in an interview with the Wall Street Journal published Sunday.
Tlaib amped up her campaign earlier this month, selling two different T-shirt designs: one reading “Justice From Detroit to Gaza” and one reading “Speak Truth to Power” in English and Arabic. The Michigan chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America handed out “Defend Rashida” signs, the outlet reported.
The Michigan Democrat, who is the only Palestinian American in Congress, was recently censured by the House for her comments on the conflict between Israel and Hamas. Lawmakers censured Tlaib for “promoting false narratives” about the Oct. 7 attack against Israel by the Hamas militant group and allegedly calling for the “destruction of the state of Israel.” Twenty-two Democrats voted with nearly all Republicans to support the measure.
Jewish American groups have launched advertising against her, spending hundreds of thousands of dollars accusing her of being “on the wrong side of history and humanity” and calling on constituents to vote her out. Several Democrats have criticized their colleague for her anti-Israel statements, as well.
However, Tlaib has not drawn a Democratic primary challenger — actor Hill Harper claimed he turned down a pro-Israel donor’s offer of $20 million to run against her. Instead, Harper, who is running to replace Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), attended Tlaib’s campaign kickoff and supported her reelection.
Tlaib said she believes her views are more in tune with the Democratic conference than Biden’s support for Israel.
“Being a member of the Democratic Party, are we able to really grab our base of people, our working-class communities that need to feel like we have their back?” she said. “In Michigan, [Biden] was already fragile. But after Oct. 7, it seems to have gotten worse.”
Michigan holds one of the largest Muslim and Arab American populations in the United States, with the voting bloc choosing Biden overwhelmingly and helping secure his win in the swing state in the 2020 election.
Tlaib warned that if Biden doesn’t make changes to his administration’s tune on the war between Israel and Hamas, 2024 could become a repeat of 2016 — when many people “didn’t feel like they had a choice between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump,” the latter of who won Michigan by less than 11,000 votes.
Michigan Democratic leaders said in October that they are hearing people are “very disappointed” with Biden and that Muslim Americans may not vote for him again. Muslim leaders are floating a plan to mobilize voters for next year but encouraging them to leave the top of the ticket blank in protest, people close to the discussions told NBC News.
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“The Biden administration and Democrats as a whole are going to have to do a lot of work to rebuild some level of trust with my community,” Democratic state Rep. Alabas Farhat said to the outlet. “It’s never too late to do the right thing.”
The Washington Examiner reached out to Tlaib’s campaign for confirmation on the kickoff date.
