Rep. Rashida Tlaib talks Trump, Pelosi and country's stance on Israel
DETROIT (FOX 2) - It's been a busy first few months for Congress's freshman electees.
From her relationship with Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, the national debate about the country's stance on Israel to the colorful language she used to reference the president in January, Rashida Tlaib has found the spotlight more than once since getting elected.
"What she (Pelosi) says to me, you have to represent your district. She says this to every new member," Tlaib said. "She's never asked me to back down on any issue."
Tlaib said she's proud to come from the 13th Congressional District, where people expect her to say what she believes. Despite the divide of opinions that the freshman class have with their senior counterparts over hot-button issues, Tlaib said they're moving forward with those issues anyways.
"What's incredible is even if she's not jumping up and down for Medicare for all, we're still proceeding with Medicare for all," Tlaib said. "Is she endorsing the Green New Deal? No. But that hasn't stopped us."
A conversation that Tlaib has managed to bring centerstage is the debate over Israel's relationship with the U.S.. It was brought into question by both Tlaib and Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, the only other Muslim representative in the House.
Just this week, the two participated in an emotional meeting between Jewish and Muslim lawmakers in Washington.
"There's no hierarchy of who's being hated more and it was really a great opportunity to come together and talk about that," Tlaib said, "and we left much stronger and much much closer."
On her first day in congress, the 42-year-old Democrat was caught on camera telling supporters "We're gonna go in there and we're going to impeach that M***********," drawing rebuke from many of the capitol's politicans.
However, she doesn't regret saying it. While she argues that if people heard the entirety of the her speech they'd understand the place she was coming from as a Muslim in America, she did feel bad for the distraction the episode caused.
"...and I want to move forward. I can tell you that my residents felt liberated in a odd way when I said it, but I hope people can relate that I'm a human being and at that moment, I expressed myself the way I always have," she said.
Her latest endeavor has been a local issue she is debating on a national scale. Being on the Financial Services Committee, she's working to ban the use of credit scores, so they couldn't be used to determine auto insurance rates.