Dem Rep: ‘Squad’ Speech Is Like ‘Keying Your Own Car and Slashing Your Own Tires’

Tlaib State of the Union response ‘highlights the real tension’ in the Democratic Party

Karl Salzmann • March 1, 2022 12:25 pm

Rep. Rashida Tlaib’s (D., Mich.) decision to give a response to President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address is “like keying your own car and slashing your own tires,” fellow Democratic representative Josh Gottheimer (N.J.) said Tuesday.

Tlaib, a member of the “Squad” and an anti-Semite, is expected to use the speech to criticize moderate Democrats such as Sens. Joe Manchin (W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (Ariz.).

But Gottheimer, who voted for Biden’s trillion-dollar Build Back Better agenda, told Axios that Tlaib’s speech is “massively counterproductive.”

“This only highlights the real tension between the social far left and the common-sense moderate wing,” Gottheimer said.

Gottheimer is not the only Democrat to criticize Tlaib’s decision. 

“It is astonishing that the radical left continues to promote a Democratic death wish, and sees no problem relegating our party to the permanent minority,” Rep. Filemón Vela (Texas) told Axios.

Vela is one of 31 House Democrats who will not run for reelection in November. Republicans have a 3.7 percent lead on the generic congressional ballot, according to the Real Clear Politics average.