Rashida Tlaib's grandmother tells media she wants God to 'ruin' President Trump
Muftia Tlaib, the 90-year-old grandmother of Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), condemned President Donald Trump after Israel barred her granddaughter and Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) from visiting Israel.
Speaking with Reuters from her garden in Beit Ur Al-Fauqa, a village in the West Bank, Muftia Tlaib said: "Trump tells me I should be happy Rashida is not coming. May God ruin him."
Tlaib's comments come as her granddaughter and Omar are mired in yet another controversy involving Israel.
On Thursday, Israel barred the two lawmakers from making an upcoming trip to Jewish nation over the duo's repeated anti-Semitism and their support for Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions, an anti-Israel movement boycotting Israel's economy. Israeli law states that BDS supporters can be denied entry into the country.
However, Israeli officials said they would still allow Tlaib into the country on humanitarian grounds in order to see her grandmother.
Tlaib subsequently filed for such entry — which Israel approved — then publicly stated she would not visit her grandmother because Israel is "silencing" her and treating her "like a criminal."
Silencing me & treating me like a criminal is not what she wants for me. It would kill a piece of me. I have decided that visiting my grandmother under these oppressive conditions stands against everything I believe in--fighting against racism, oppression & injustice. https://t.co/z5t5j3qk4H— Rashida Tlaib (@RashidaTlaib) August 16, 2019
In response, Trump called Tlaib's grandmother the "real winner"because she would no longer have to see Tlaib.
Rep. Tlaib wrote a letter to Israeli officials desperately wanting to visit her grandmother. Permission was quickly granted, whereupon Tlaib obnoxiously turned the approval down, a complete setup. The only real winner here is Tlaib’s grandmother. She doesn’t have to see her now!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 16, 2019
According to Tlaib's uncle, Bassam Tlaib, who also spoke with Reuters, Tlaib has not seen her grandmother since 2006.