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US Congreswoman Rashida Tlaib 'smeared' for antisemitic quote that never happened

Many on social media slammed spread of false information about fabricated antisemitic comments Michigan representative was accused of
Democratic Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib (C) of Michigan speaks alongside Democratic Congresswoman Cori Bush (L) of Missouri and leaders from pro-Palestine protest encampment at George Washington University in Washington, DC, on 8 May 2024 (Saul Loeb/AFP)
By Firdevs Bulut
Published date: 24 September 2024 19:38 BST | Last update: 1 month 3 weeks ago

Palestinian-American Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib was targeted on Monday for allegedly claiming that Michigan’s attorney general Dana Nessel is going after pro-Palestinian protesters at the University of Michigan because she’s Jewish. 

However, Tlaib never made such comments, which various news outlets and sources have since fact-checked and debunked. Tlaib is the only member of the US Congress of Palestinian origin.

Jonathan Greenblatt, the CEO of the Anti-Defamation League, an organisation which has said that pro-Palestinian activism equals antisemitism in their eyes, shared a post on X addressing Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, asking her to condemn the fabricated comments while doubling down that Tlaib had made an antisemitic statement about attorney general Nessel. 

Nessel is currently pursuing charges against pro-Palestinian protesters at the University of Michigan, based on the allegations that some had assaulted police officers and engaged in ethnic intimidation.

Greenblatt wrote, “When your attorney general prosecutes people for violating the law, harassing Jews, and attacking police officers, it’s in the interest of public safety. When a congresswoman accuses the attorney general of prosecuting protestors simply because she’s Jewish, it’s bias,” which he deleted later. 

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Detroit Metro Times outlet, which was falsely quoted by The Jewish Insider in the first place about the congresswoman’s comments, also published a fact-checked story confirming that Tlaib never made such comments. The author of the story also replied to CNN anchor, Jake Tapper, and confirmed once again that Tlaib’s comments were fabricated.

These retractions did not stop many from condemning the spread of false information on social media, such as journalist Mehdi Hassan, who criticised CNN for giving a platform to false claims. 

Ilhan Omar, the US representative for Minnesota, wrote that the smear campaign against Tlaib is “absolutely reprehensible”.

Ben Spielberg, author and co-founder of 34 Justice group, criticised CNN for providing a platform for Nessel to continue smearing Congresswoman Tlaib.

Many also reacted to Nessel’s continuation of her incendiary claims, many of which are still up on the social media platform X despite the retractions. 

One user included comments from Tlaib, which includes no antisemitic commentary but suggests that the University of Michigan is falsely prosecuting the pro-Palestinian students. 

It is still not certain who or which news platform fabricated the "antisemitic comments" by Rashida Tlaib in the first place, but the claim has reached far and wide and resonated with so many online, with tweets about the comments receiving millions of views. 

A closer look at the congresswoman’s comments reveals that she was specifically talking about anti-Palestinian bigotry in US universities and the crackdown on students.  

The Michigan chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations called on CNN to retract and apologise for the false claim made against Tlaib.

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