Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) revealed that she held Rep. Ilhan Omar’s (D-Minn.) hand during President Trump’s State of the Union address this week during “triggering” moments so that the freshmen lawmakers could support each other before walking out of the speech.
“It was a huge struggle for me because I don’t think people realize it’s worse when you’re actually there,” Tlaib said Friday during a panel discussion, Fox News reported.
Tlaib and Omar were joined by their fellow members of “the squad,” Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.), at the Friday event, according to The Rising Majority, the coalition that hosted the event.
“There was moments of triggering and I kept holding your hand and we intentionally sat next to each other to support each other,” she continued.
China-linked birth tourism under scrutiny as GOP lawmakers press Trump admin for answers
WATCH: GOP Rep Roasts Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz And State AG Keith Ellison over Massive Fraud Scandal Point by Point
EXCLUSIVE: Trump rejects shielding Biden records from Senate probes in executive privilege showdown
Breaking: NYC Bomb Attack ‘ISIS-Inspired Terrorism,’ NYPD Commissioner Says
DHS hammers Dems over airport security lines amid funding lapse
The Most Dishonest Headline We’ve Ever Seen: The NYT’s Headline on the Islamist IED Attack at Mamdani’s Mansion Will Blow Your Mind
Iranian Women’s Soccer Team Appears to Cry for Help with Subtle Hand Gesture
Tankers to resume normal movement in Middle East in ‘a few weeks’ at worst, Energy sec says, ending oil surge
Airport chaos escalates pressure to resolve DHS government shutdown
Warrants served in New Jersey, Pennsylvania as feds look into possible NYC terrorism
How Fairfax County’s sanctuary policies led to an illegal immigrant murdering an innocent woman
A cure for cancer would deliver $185T economic windfall, report says
Minnesota taxpayers on the hook for race-based teacher recruitment
US conducts strike on another boat carrying suspected narco-traffickers, killing 6 people
Pennsylvania state trooper fatally shot during traffic stop, officials say
Tlaib and Omar were part of a group of Democratic lawmakers who walked out of President Trump’s State of the Union address Tuesday. Both Ocasio-Cortez and Pressley also commented on the topic of the president’s State of the Union speech, though both of the lawmakers announced early on Tuesday that they would be boycotting the event.
Ocasio-Cortez said at the Friday event that “I went last year. He’s not all that,” adding, “Much less impressive in person than on television. And I just didn’t want to sit through that.”
“Ultimately, we knew what was going to come. We knew it was going to be racist, Islamophobic, classist [and] history denying. I just didn’t feel like spending my evening legitimizing that,” Ocasio-Cortez said, Fox News reported.
Pressley said she did not want critics to have the opportunity to use “weaponized” photos of her reacting to the speech, Fox News reported.
“I wanted to control my own narrative, my own image,” Pressley said.
Tlaib later tweeted that Trump’s remarks on food stamps were “beneath the dignity of the office he occupies.” The Trump administration this week asked a federal judge to allow it to move forward with restrictions on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), commonly referred to as food stamps, that could leave as many as 700,000 people without access to the program.
China-linked birth tourism under scrutiny as GOP lawmakers press Trump admin for answers
WATCH: GOP Rep Roasts Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz And State AG Keith Ellison over Massive Fraud Scandal Point by Point
EXCLUSIVE: Trump rejects shielding Biden records from Senate probes in executive privilege showdown
Breaking: NYC Bomb Attack ‘ISIS-Inspired Terrorism,’ NYPD Commissioner Says
DHS hammers Dems over airport security lines amid funding lapse
The Most Dishonest Headline We’ve Ever Seen: The NYT’s Headline on the Islamist IED Attack at Mamdani’s Mansion Will Blow Your Mind
Iranian Women’s Soccer Team Appears to Cry for Help with Subtle Hand Gesture
Tankers to resume normal movement in Middle East in ‘a few weeks’ at worst, Energy sec says, ending oil surge
Airport chaos escalates pressure to resolve DHS government shutdown
Warrants served in New Jersey, Pennsylvania as feds look into possible NYC terrorism
How Fairfax County’s sanctuary policies led to an illegal immigrant murdering an innocent woman
A cure for cancer would deliver $185T economic windfall, report says
Minnesota taxpayers on the hook for race-based teacher recruitment
US conducts strike on another boat carrying suspected narco-traffickers, killing 6 people
Pennsylvania state trooper fatally shot during traffic stop, officials say
I walked out of that speech. The lies, the bigotry, and the shameless bragging about taking away food stamps that people depend on to live—it was all beneath the dignity of the office he occupies. Shame on this forever impeached president.
— Rashida Tlaib (@RashidaTlaib) February 5, 2020
Tlaib also told MSNBC Host Rachel Maddow that she decided to leave the speech after the president praised Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.
Kavanaugh was accused of sexual assault by Dr. Christine Blasey Ford during his confirmation hearing when they were teenagers.
“The fact that he rightfully was accused and having an incredibly strong woman come before the public and the world and tell her story of sexual assault by this person that was appointed to the Supreme Court is just alone — I couldn’t stand still and not do anything about it,” Tlaib said Tuesday. “And I needed to walk away from that.”
Story cited here.
