 Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib recently appeared on an episode of Skoll Duggery podcast, which is part of Yahoo News, and she was asked why she supports a one-state solution, and she's going to give a really thoughtful and nuanced answer, but what she's going to say is going to be supposedly controversial, according to some conservatives. They're going to say that her answer here is in fact anti-Semitic. But towards the end of this video, when we get to the controversy and talk about what they took issue with, I'm going to tell you what this is really about, because my theory is that this isn't necessarily about anti-Semitism, more than it's about foreign policy, because what she's saying here is bucking the status quo when it comes to foreign policy, and what a politician should be saying when it comes to Israel-Palestine. So we'll listen, and then when we come back, we'll talk about the huge debacle that unfolded, and this blew up. So Congresswoman, you've created something of a stir by coming out in favor of a one-state solution in Israel and Palestine. And I think you may be the only Democrat who's publicly supported a one-state solution. So what is your vision for a one-state solution that meets both Palestinian and Israeli or Jewish national aspirations? Absolutely, and let me tell you, I mean, for me, just a few, I think two weeks ago or so, we celebrated, or just it took a moment, I think, in our country to remember the Holocaust. And there's, you know, there's a kind of a calming feeling, I always tell folks. When I think of the Holocaust and the tragedy of the Holocaust and the fact that it was my ancestors, Palestinians, who lost their land and some lost their lives, their livelihood, the human dignity, their existence in many ways have been wiped out in some people's passport. I mean, just all of it was in the name of trying to create a safe haven for Jews, post the Holocaust, post the tragedy and horrific persecution of Jews across the world at that time. And I love the fact that it was my ancestors that provided that, right, in many ways. But they did it in a way that took their human dignity away, right, and it was forced on them. And so when I think about a one-state, I think about the fact that why couldn't we do it in a better way, where, and I don't want people to do it in the name of Judaism, just like I don't want people to use Islam in that way. It has to be done in a way of values around equality and around the fact that you shouldn't oppress others so that you can feel free and safe. Why can't we all be free and safe together? But a one-state solution with the right of return, I mean, just the math suggests that Jews would become a minority in that state. But Dan, that's not up to us to decide what it looks like, right? Just like when I have my African-American teachers taught me about neighborhoods they couldn't live in, taught me about places they couldn't work. But it's important to understand that separate but equal didn't work here, right? And we have to let all the self-determination happen there. But for me, that's the lens I bring to it. But I'm not a leader there. But isn't it giving up to say we're just going to—the idea of a two-state solution with two independent states that are sovereign and independent and free? Aren't you giving that up that dream? I didn't give it up. Netanyahu and his party gave it up. And the Israeli government gave it up. And it's not worth fighting for anymore. It's not me to decide. But just to be clear— It's the will of the people. If Netanyahu got up yesterday or tomorrow morning and decides, you know what? I'm going to take down the walls. I'm not going to expand settlements. Enough is enough. I really want to push towards two-state solution. He has every power, every power to do that. So it's evident to me when I hear her give that response that the reason why she supports a one-state solution is because she believes that's the only way that we can actually achieve lasting peace. If you extend suffrage universally to all citizens, if you give Palestinians equal protection under the law and constitutional rights, the same rights that Israelis have, then that's really one way that you can achieve lasting peace. And at this point, arguably, it's the only way that you can achieve lasting peace. But here's a portion that conservatives took issue with. Quote, and there's, you know, this kind of a calming feeling when I think of the Holocaust. Now, if you stop right where I just stopped, obviously that sounds horrible. And there's, you know, there's a kind of a calming feeling, I always tell folks, when I think of the Holocaust. It sounds like she's saying she takes, you know, this sort of comfort when she thinks about the Holocaust. But obviously that wasn't the point that she was making because when you continue reading and you get the full context, it's obvious what she was trying to say. And there's, you know, this kind of a calming feeling when I think of the Holocaust and the tragedy of the Holocaust. If you just go a little bit further, she says it's a tragedy. And there's, you know, there's a kind of a calming feeling I always tell folks when I think of the Holocaust and the tragedy of the Holocaust. And the fact that it was my ancestors, Palestinians who lost their land and some lost their lives, their livelihood, human dignity, all in the name of trying to create a safe haven for Jews post Holocaust, post the tragedy and horrific persecution of Jews across the world at that time. So essentially what she's saying is, even though the Holocaust was a horrible thing, thinking back, I'm glad that my ancestors didn't do what everyone else was doing around the world and in Europe to Jews. I'm glad that they tried to have this safe haven for Jews and welcomed them rather than shunning them or persecuting them. So when you have the full context of what she said, it's not controversial at all. I don't even think it's debatable. And can you guess what portion of her answer there they reported on? The portion that I stopped reading where if we just clipped out that sentence or half of a sentence, it would sound really horrible, right? Well, that's exactly what they did. So going to this headline from the Washington Examiner as an example, it reads, Rashida Tlaib says, thinking of the Holocaust provides her a calming feeling. Now, if you didn't know about what she said, if you didn't have the full context and you read that headline, wouldn't that be incredibly startling to you? Wouldn't you instinctively think, wow, this Rashida Tlaib person who I know nothing about must be a horrible person? Yeah. So what they're doing here is they are intentionally taking her out of context to make it seem like she's some sort of monster who was pro-Holocaust. So in favor of the Holocaust, that thinking about it gives her a calming feeling. They're shameless. Conservative media is absolutely shameless. And I've got another example from the Daily Caller. Rashida Tlaib uses historical inaccuracy to explain why the tragedy of the Holocaust gives her a calming feeling. And of course, besides the Daily Caller and the Washington Examiner, Fox News took the time to spread this smear around even more, which isn't surprising to anyone, but a lot of the outrage really was propelled to a new level once conservatives started to chime in. So Liz Cheney also took her out of context saying, here's Rashida Tlaib's direct quote. There's a calming feeling I always tell folks when I think of the Holocaust and her history of what happened after is a fantasy based on lies spread to delegitimize the state of Israel. So she's legitimizing this smear by saying this is a direct quote. But at the same time, you're not being honest and providing people with the full context because if you go a step further there, just a couple words past where you stopped, you see that she doesn't get a quote calming feeling from the Holocaust. Who would? She's saying the calming feeling comes from the fact that her ancestors did not behave in the way that other countries were behaving during the Holocaust. But they don't care. The goal here is to smear, take her out of context to make her look bad. Now also Ben Shapiro says, Rashida Tlaib's comments were in fact anti-Semitic. They whitewashed the Jew hatred of Palestinian Arab leadership before, during and after the Holocaust. She denies the connection between Jews and Israel pre-Holocaust. President Donald Trump tweeted, Democrat Representative Tlaib is being slammed for her horrible and highly insensitive statement on the Holocaust. She obviously has tremendous hatred of Israel and the Jewish people. Can you imagine what would happen if I ever said what she said and says? Except you've said way worse than anything she's ever said. Take her most controversial statement, which is arguably we're going to impeach the motherfucker. And your worst statement is like 10 times more reprehensible than that. So obviously what they're trying to do is they're trying to cultivate outrage in order to smear someone who's going against the grain. It's not that they think this is anti-Semitic. It's that they think that this foreign policy position is completely unacceptable. Because what we have currently in DC is this consensus that you are not allowed to question Israel. Benjamin Netanyahu can build settlements. He can commit genocide, murder Palestinian protesters indiscriminately and with impunity. And he doesn't get any backlash from Western countries. We're silent. And if we criticize him, then we're anti-Semitic. So by her saying, by her advocating for a one state solution, basically she is doing something that you can't do. You can't question the consensus. You can't disagree with the status quo because they have a position. And if you don't accept it, then they will go out of their way to smear you. Now she responded to all of the backlash saying, Policing my words, twisting and turning them to ignite vile attacks on me will not work. All of you who are trying to silence me will fail miserably. I will never allow you to take my words out of context to push your racist and hateful agenda. The truth will always win. Bernie Sanders chimed in to defend her saying, Mr. President, stop dividing the American people up by their religion, their race or their country of origin. And stop your ugly attacks against Muslim women in Congress. You are taking representative tribes comments out of context and should apologize. And surprisingly Nancy Pelosi chimed in saying Republicans desperate attempts to smear Rashida Thlaib and misrepresent her comments are outrageous. President real Donald Trump and House GOP should apologize to representative Thlaib and the American people for their gross misrepresentations. Now credit where it's due for Nancy Pelosi because she essentially took Ilhan Omar and pushed her in front of the bus the last time she made supposedly anti-Semitic comments. But she actually surprisingly did the right thing here and defended Rashida Thlaib, which you have to do. If you are in leadership in the Democratic Party, when you see the opposition disingenuously lobbying this bad faith critique against one of your caucus members, it's incumbent on you to defend her. They obviously brazenly took her out of context because you all listen to the same audio that I listened to. In no way was she doing pro-holocaust apologia. She was talking about something else. She was making a very different point. But by taking her out of context, they can make it seem as if, oh, another Muslim woman seems to hate Jews. And it's disgusting. So ask yourself why this is continuously happening to Ilhan Omar and Rashida Thlaib. Obviously it's because they're Muslim women. But most importantly, it's because they're saying things that you're not supposed to say. In Washington D.C., you are not supposed to question our foreign policy consensus. Look at Tulsi Gabbard and the way that she was treated when she went to Syria. She's being smeared as an Assad apologist. You can't buck orthodoxy when it comes to D.C. foreign policy. And I think Karl Kalinsky nails that in this tweet saying, If you sincerely think Ilhan is pro-911 and Thlaib is pro-holocaust, you're a giant idiot or total liar. The first two Muslim women in Congress are repeatedly and viciously smeared by bad faith actors so the riot can play gacha. And because these two brave women threaten foreign policy status quo, that is precisely what's happening. Nobody would really care about them if they weren't saying things that got people to think about Israel policy and Israel Palestine in a different way. Nobody's really thought about how our foreign policy and policy with regard to Israel is hurting Palestinians until now because we have two Muslim women in Congress. We have a Palestinian woman telling us how our policies are hurting other people around the world. That's ultimately what I think this is about, but certainly it doesn't help that there is a very large portion of the Republican Party base that is anti-Muslim. That feel uneasy with the fact that there are two Muslim women now serving in Congress, which is why they go out of their way to smear them. So this is nothing more than another bad faith attack. And if you think this will end here, this will be a trend. Republicans will keep doing this to Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib so long as they continue to speak truth to power. And it may be disgusting and demoralizing now, but I truly believe that when we look back at this and read about this in the history books, we're going to think about how ridiculous this was and how horribly the first two Muslim women were treated, all because we didn't want to actually do something to jeopardize this relationship that we have with Israel because they're in a geopolitically advantageous position in the Middle East and North Africa. And we want to be able to have sway over the region, so that means we empower one of our allies there. It's disgusting, but it's not surprising.