Tlaib slams ‘anti-Muslim rhetoric’ after Florida official says she might ‘blow up’ Capitol Hill

Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) on Tuesday decried “hateful anti-Muslim rhetoric” after a South Florida official accused her of being an anti-Semite who might “blow up Capitol Hill.” 

“This sort of hateful anti-Muslim rhetoric doesn’t happen in a vacuum — this President embraced it and Republicans have happily gone along with it,” Tlaib, one of the first two Muslim women elected to Congress, wrote on Twitter.

This sort of hateful anti-Muslim rhetoric doesn’t happen in a vacuum – this President embraced it and Republicans have happily gone along with it.https://t.co/3THoHQmRVy

— Rashida Tlaib (@RashidaTlaib) January 15, 2019

{mosads}Her tweet comes after Anabelle Lima-Taub, a Hallandale commissioner in Broward County, signed an online petition seeking to remove Tlaib from office after the lawmaker vowed to go after President Trump and “impeach the motherf—er,” the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported Monday.

Lima-Taub, who is Jewish, then shared the petition in a now-deleted post on her personal Facebook page.

“A Hamas-loving anti-Semite has NO place in government! She is a danger and [I] would not put it past her to become a martyr and blow up Capitol Hill,” Lima-Taub reportedly wrote. 

Lima-Taub did not respond to the Sun-Sentinel’s requests for comment.

Muslim advocacy groups condemned her remarks and demanded she issue a public apology.

“That level of racism and bigotry has no place in Florida’s politics,” said Vetnah Monessar, state director for Emgage, a nonprofit focused on civic engagement among Muslim Americans. “Muslims are part of the fabric of this country. We demand that Commissioner Taub apologize to her constituents and the general public.”

Hallandale Vice Mayor Sabrina Javellana told the newspaper that she was stunned by Lima-Taub’s “outrageous” claim, but stopped short of demanding an apology.

“To say [the congresswoman] could ‘blow up’ Capitol Hill is really inappropriate,” Javellana said. “Congressman Steve King from Iowa has openly embraced white supremacy and I don’t see anyone condemning him. Maybe she’s being targeted because she’s a woman and because she’s a Muslim.”

Tlaib came under fire earlier this month when, hours after she was sworn into office, she told a crowd of supporters that “we’re going to go in and impeach the motherf—er.”

The Michigan Democrat doubled down after she faced backlash from Republicans questioning her civility and decorum, saying she was “#unapologeticallyMe.”

“This is not just about Donald Trump,” she wrote on Twitter. “This is about all of us. In the face of this constitutional crisis, we must rise.”