Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) — among the biggest public boosters of the movement to vote “uncommitted” in Tuesday’s Michigan Democratic primary to show support for a cease-fire in Gaza — said she worries about Donald Trump winning back the White House in November.
“It’s really important for folks to understand: I am incredibly, incredibly scared of a second term for Trump. And I think it’s really important to emphasize this,” Tlaib told reporters at a news conference Thursday.
Tlaib and several other progressive lawmakers held the event to urge the White House to push back against a planned offensive by the Israeli military into the southern city of Rafah in Gaza.
Since Israel invaded Gaza in the wake of a Hamas terrorist attack, more than a million Palestinians have fled to Rafah as they’ve tried to avoid the brutal fighting. U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told a House panel on Thursday that at least 25,000 of the dead were Palestinian women and children.
The widespread civilian casualties have led to a backlash against Israel and the United States, where officials all the way up to President Joe Biden have urged Israel to proceed more cautiously. Their warnings have had little effect.
Cease-fire proponents urged Michigan primary voters on Tuesday to vote for “uncommitted” instead of Biden as a way to urge him to put more pressure on Israel. The effort netted 13.3% of the Democratic vote, or about 100,000 votes, a level the move’s backers considered successful.
Tlaib, whose parents were Palestinian immigrants, endorsed the “uncommitted” campaign and made a video to spur turnout for it, but Thursday said she did not anticipate trying to widen the campaign further.
“We’re not going to go into the backyards of other states and tell them what to do,” she said. “I think what is so beautiful about our country is every community is different. Every community is going to decide how, again, to use our democracy.”
And Tlaib urged voters to not stay home in the fall, even if they are not enthusiastic about having to pick between Biden and Trump. Tlaib herself did not respond to a question about whether she would vote for Biden as the press conference wrapped up.
“One thing that I know about staying home is you’re making us more invisible. I want you to exercise your right to vote,” she said.
“Everybody’s always driven by what’s on top of the ballot. Know that there’s so many other folks on that ballot, many of which support a cease-fire,” she said. “To think of that ballot as a way to speak that truth of what you believe in and not always think about that top of that ticket.”