Florida official says U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib may "blow up" Capitol
A Jewish Florida city commissioner has accused Rep. Rashida Tlaib -- a Palistinian-American who is one of the first Muslim members of Congress -- of being a "danger" who might "blow up" the U.S. Capitol.
Anabelle Lima-Taub, a city commissioner in Hallandale Beach, signed an online petition seeking to remove Tlaib from office and posted the petition on her personal Facebook page. "Proudly signed," Lima-Taub wrote. "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's posting comes after Tlaib said of President Trump that she wanted to "impeach that motherf*****."
The Facebook post was removed from Lima-Taub's page, but the petition has been reposted by a follower. The Florida chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations called for the resignation. "Xenophobic stereotypes must not be embraced by any elected official," the group said in a statement.
Tlaib, for her part, linked the comments from Lima-Taub to Mr. Trump. "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," she said on Twitter.
Lima-Taub's comments were first reported by the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.
