Democratic U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) took the stage at a United Auto Workers union rally in Detroit on Friday and declared that she will not endorse Vice President Kamala Harris for president in a move that could have a major impact on the race in Michigan.
Tlaib is the only Palestinian American member of Congress and has openly spoken out about her disagreements with the Biden administration’s stances on the ongoing conflict in Israel, per The Detroit News.
The representative took the stage and urged those in attendance to vote for the person they believe will make the best change, explaining that the power is with the people and they should not feel forced into voting for a specific candidate.
“Don’t underestimate the power you all have,” she said, per The Detroit News. “More than those ads, those lawn signs, those billboards, you all have more power to turn out people that understand we’ve got to fight back against corporate greed in our country.”
Tlaib further explained that voters must also focus on less-known elections, such as the Michigan Supreme Court elections, and that they must “make sure that the nonpartisan part of the ballot gets filled in,” according to The Detroit News.
In addition to stating that she would not support Harris for President, Tlaib took to social media just before the rally to call out former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden for their actions regarding this conflict.
“Trump is a proud Islamophobe + serial liar who doesn’t stand for peace. The reality is that the Biden admin’s unconditional support for genocide is what got us here. This should be a wake-up call for those who continue to support genocide. This election didn’t have to be close,” she wrote on X.
This refusal to endorse Harris and the criticism of both Trump and Biden comes on the same day that Tlaib drafted a letter alongside Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.) that requests additional details on the United States’ involvement in the conflict in Israel.
The letter further states that any further involvement would violate the U.S. Constitution, as Congress did not authorize many of the actions being taken by the Biden Administration.
“This current involvement, and any additional involvement or deployment, of the Armed Forces in the Israeli government’s expanding regional war fall under the definition of ‘hostilities’ in the War Powers Resolution and are not in response to an imminent or actual attack against the United States,” reads the letter, per The Hill.
“As such, these actions are unauthorized and are subject to Congress’ authorities.”
