Rashida Tlaib crashes out at Byron Donalds over ‘fascist takeover’ of Washington, DC
“And I think it’s really important we need to stand up against this fascist takeover—and that’s not a bad word, that is a fact,” she said.
Michigan House Rep. Rashida Tlaib spoke at the House Oversight Committee in a hearing on the Oversight of the District of Columbia and during her remarks, she claimed the Trump administration was staging a “fascist takeover” of the District, freaked out at Rep. Byron Donalds, and resorted to shouting at her colleagues in Congress.
The hearing veered toward chaos as Tlaib said that the Trump administration’s takeover of DC’s Metro PD was a “fascist takeover,” “authoritarian,” that it was “not a bad word—it’s a fact.” Tlaib was clearly upset over crime bills that passed in the House, sponsored in part by Donalds.
The DC Crimes Act, brought by Donalds, limits the District’s ability to change criminal sentencing laws. This passed 240 to 179. The DC attorney general is now, per this law, required to publish juvenile crime stats. Another bill passed by the House says that juveniles over the age of 14 can be tried as adults. This also passed, 225 to 203. Still another bill allows the president to make judicial nominations in DC, which passed 218 to 211, and another permits DC cops to pursue suspects fleeing in vehicles unless a chase poses unacceptable risk of harm to others. That passed 245 to 182.
“And I think it’s really important we need to stand up against this fascist takeover—and that’s not a bad word, that is a fact,” she said. “And here in DC and across the country, it is so incredibly important, Mr. Chair, that this committee does not allow rhetoric that defames or paints Washington, DC in a way that you all haven’t really truly seen. You’re just reading it, nope, you’re just reading it or something off of some—”
Florida Rep. Byron Donalds spoke up out of turn, asking “Will the gentlelady yield to a question?”
“Yeah I think it’s really important,” she said.
“Will the gentlelady yield?” Donalds asked.
“No, I don’t yield, I don’t even have time. I can tell you—”
“Your time is expired,” Comer said.
“It is expired, but Mr. Chair, you all live here and you’re not telling people the beautiful parts that you do see in our nation’s capital, and no, no, no, it’s just wrong how we’re doing this.”
“Chairman,” Donalds attempted, stating he wasn’t interested in “an argument. But she’s going to refer to me and some of my colleagues like we were from the Third Reich, this is insane,” Donalds said. “It’s insane. It’s insane. It’s insane. Do I look like a member of the Third Reich to you, Ms. Tlaib, is that what I look like to you? Is that what you think? Is that what you think? Is that what you think? I think it’s radical and I think it’s insane and I respect everything that you say but that’s way out of line. It’s way out of line. Way out of line. But it’s okay, that’s okay, right? It’s okay, right?”
She continued to shout at him throughout, telling him “hold yourself accountable before you talk about Washington, DC” and yelling about his “voting card.”
“Regular order,” Comer attempted.
“Hold your own self accountable, how about that?” Donalds said as she continued to yell.
“Free DC!” Tlaib started chanting as Comer banged his gavel to bring the chamber to order. Tlaib shouted about Donalds “voting card,” complaining “don’t be giving it to someone else.”
It took committee chair Rep. James Comer to jump in and bring a halt to the runaway taking place in the chamber.
In a post, Donalds said “It’s been 8 days since a leftist assassin shot my friend Charlie Kirk. Just now, Rashida Tlaib just called us “FASCIST” again. This rhetoric is WRONG. This rhetoric is UNHINGED. This rhetoric is OUT-OF-LINE. This rhetoric has INSPIRED MURDER. WE WILL NOT STAND TO BE DEFAMED.”
The Trump administration federalized law enforcement in Washington, DC in an attempt to get crime under control in that city. Curfews were implemented, officers of many federal agencies were sent out around the city, and the crime rate has substantially dropped, making DC a safer city for the majority-black population in the capital.