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U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Detroit) in front of the Capitol. (Photo: Twitter)
Rep. Rashida Tlaib has refused to apologize for using a curse word to describe a president who routinely swears and hurls insults himself, often toward marginalized people. But after calling Donald Trump a "motherf--ker" made her a top story for several days, the freshman Congresswoman from Detroit says she's sorry her comments drew attention from more pressing issues.
"This is a teachable moment," Tlaib said in an interview on "Democracy Now!" Tuesday morning on PBS. "I won’t apologize for being upset or angry. What I do apologize for is the use of my words for distracting us."
The shift in tone comes after Tlaib's comment that "we're gonna go in and impeach the motherf--ker" sparked a days-long nationwide debate over women, swearing, etiquette, paying deference, etc.
.@RashidaTlaib would not address her comment last night that she wants to “impeach the motherf**cker” pic.twitter.com/NgEyN7znmq
— Bo Erickson (@BoKnowsNews) January 4, 2019
The day after the statement — which was made to supporters at a bar — Tlaib mostly dodged reporters and doubled down in the interview she did grant. On Twitter, she said, "I will always speak truth to power." But by Tuesday, after pundits from every corner of Washington had offered their riveting takes on her words, Tlaib appeared more sober as she reflected on her rocky start.
"I didn’t expect this kind of attention and maybe attacks on what I said," she said, adding that she was particularly disappointed to have distracted from the House's Thursday night vote to reopen the government.
The full "Democracy Now!" segment and a partial transcript of Tlaib's comments are below.
"People that do really know me well know that I'm extremely passionate about fighting for my families and the residents back home and I can tell you … the only thing that I probably didn't want to happen was to distract us. We are currently in a government shutdown. I want to focus on that and I want to ... really start driving the message out there about the human impact that the government shutdown has."Look, you know, I’m my authentic self … this is who I am. And people always want someone — they always want people that are real and human, but at the same time I don’t want us to be deterred and distracted [from] what’s important rigt now, which is accountability for the president of the United States, which is to get us back open and functional as a government. There’s so much work to be done.
"And I didn’t expect this kind of attention and maybe attacks on what I said, although I still want to impeach him.
"I know that this is a teachable moment. I understand that I’m a member of Congress now, but I’m also a person that is angry and upset with the conduct of my president, the conduct of a person that, you know, what's happening at the borders, as a person who is Muslim in America, what is being said about my faith. There’s so much there and I'm passionate and I’m upset … but I won’t apologize for being upset or angry. What I do apologize is the use of my words for distracting us. We just had voted, on the first day, to open up government. I want to focus on that."
