Trump just flipped Rep. Rashida Tlaib's positive words about Israel into an anti-Semitism accusation

published 13 May 2019

President Trump is right that Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) is "being slammed" for what she said about the Holocaust. The rest of his interpretation is way off.

On Friday, Tlaib appeared on Yahoo's Skullduggery podcast and discussed how one aspect of the Israeli-Palestianian conflict gave her "a calming feeling ... when I think of the Holocaust," saying that at least Israel became "a safe haven for Jews" after it ended. Yet many Republicans snipped Tlaib's comment after "Holocaust," providing the misleading and incorrect interpretation that Trump shares below.

A look at what Tlaib actually said indicates that Trump is far from correct. She didn't say that the Holocaust gave her "a calming feeling," but rather that she gets that feeling when she thinks about why her "ancestors — Palestinians ... lost their land and some lost their lives." It was all "in the name of trying to create a safe haven for Jews" as they recovered from the Holocaust and other "horrific persecution," she said. The only problem is that "they did it in a way that took [the Palestianians'] human dignity away," Tlaib finished. In essence, Tlaib is saying she's happy that, if the Palestinians had to lose their land, at least it was for a good reason.

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Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.

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