Rashida Tlaib refuses to stop targeting centrist Democrats: ‘I can’t be silent’

Popular Democrat AOC recently expressed doubts over continuing in politics over lack of support from within the party

US Democratic Rep Rashida Tlaib speaks at a volunteer canvass launch for Biden/Harris (REUTERS)

Democrats may have secured the control of the house of representatives and won the presidential elections but the party seems set for a tough time ahead with the progressives including the ‘Squad’.  

“We're not going to be successful if we're silencing districts like mine," said re-elected Michigan Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib. "Me not being able to speak on behalf of many of my neighbours right now, many of which are Black neighbours, means me being silenced. I can't be silent.”

Ms Tlaib and the other three Democratic congresswomen collectively known as The Squad – Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ayanna Pressley and Ilhan Omar – won their re-election.  

The Congresswoman said they are “not interested in unity that asks people to sacrifice their freedom and their rights any longer.”  

“And if we truly want to unify our country, we have to really respect every single voice. We say that so willingly when we talk about Trump supporters, but we don't say that willingly for my black and brown neighbours and from LGBTQ neighbours or marginalised people,” Tlaib told Politico in an interview.

Even though the Democrats control the house of representatives they lost seats rather than increasing their majority.  

They are witnessing a serious debate between the moderates and progressives of the party as the latter has been pushing for an aggressive fight against climate change or defunding the police – something that moderates believe could drive the voters away.  

But the progressives are not bowing down to the criticism and instead, some leaders want Joe Biden to lead from the front on climate change issues.  

Ms Tlaib said that if voters can “walk past blighted homes and school closures and pollution to vote for Biden-Harris, when they feel like they don't have anything else, they deserve to be heard” while expressing her dismay that she “can’t believe that people are asking them to be quiet.”  

She is not alone. Her fellow squad member and popular Democrat leader Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, in a recent interview to the New York Times, expressed doubts about continuing in politics due to lack of support from within the party.