Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) on Saturday addressed what happened at a recent campaign event for Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), where she joined audience members who booed in response to Hillary Clinton’s harsh words about the senator.
The representative shared a series of tweets, noting she is “so incredibly in love with the movement that our campaign of #NotMeUs has created.
“This makes me protective over it and frustrated by attempts to dismiss the strength and diversity of our movement,” she continued, noting in a later tweet that unifying the Democratic Party “over one candidate” is key to ensuring President Donald Trump isn’t reelected in November.
“In this instance, I allowed my disappointment with Secretary Clinton’s latest comments about Senator Sanders and his supporters get the best of me,” Tlaib tweeted. “You all, my sisters-in-service on stage, and our movement deserve better.”
On Friday, Tlaib was joined by Reps. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) and Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) for a panel discussion in Iowa to support Sanders ahead of the caucuses on Monday.
During the discussion, panel moderator Dionna Langford, the co-chair Sanders’ campaign in Iowa, noted that Clinton recently claimed in a much-discussed interview with The Hollywood Reporter that “nobody likes” Sanders, and that the Democratic presidential candidate “got nothing done” in Congress.
Clinton declined to say in that interview whether she’d endorse Sanders if he were to become the 2020 nominee, though she tweeted the day the piece was published that she’d do whatever she could to support the Democratic Party’s eventual nominee amid criticism.
When audience members began to boo Clinton’s remarks on Friday, Langford responded, “We’re not going to boo, we’re classy here.”
Tlaib then chimed in and said, “No, no I’ll boo ... boo.”
“You all know I can’t be quiet ... no, we’re going to boo,” she continued with a smile. “The haters will shut up on Monday when we win.”
Tlaib’s remarks drew varied responses on Twitter.
Some people accused Tlaib of further dividing the party, while others argued that much of the criticism against Tlaib was tone-policing, and that women of color should be allowed to express their opinions as candidly as white women like Clinton.
Tlaib concluded her statement on Saturday by noting that she “will continue to strive to come from a place of love and not react in the same way of those who are against what we are building in this country.”