Rashida Tlaib delivers 'progressive' response to Biden's SOTU address

Despite being a member of the President’s party, "Squad" member Rep. Rashida Tlaib, (D-MI) gave a "progressive" response to Joe Biden's first State of the Union address.

Many, including members of her own party, criticized the radical congresswoman for seemingly dividing from the leader of her own party on a night where the President was attempting to display unity.

Tlaib has a record of deviating from the party. She and her fellow Squad members voted against the bipartisan infrastructure bill last year which Biden touted in his speech to a standing ovation.

Tlaib also has a history of antisemitic remarks and she is a vocal opponent to Israel, going so far as to call for its destruction. Her rebuttal to the president highlighted the growing divide in the Democrat party over support for America's ally Israel, and the disconnect between the far-left progressives and the establishment Democrats.

Yet, Tlaib's response Tuesday to approximately 300 viewers on the Working Families Party Facebook page was an attempt to convince progressives that Biden is as left leaning as they want him to be. Tlaib claimed in her response that Biden was prevented from being more progressive by the moderate Democrats who are working with Republicans to block far-left agenda items such as abolishing the filibuster and passing the Green New Deal.

Tlaib said, "The Working Families Party is a voice for the multiracial working class, fighting for a nation that cares for all of us. I’m a lifelong Democrat and I’m also part of the WFP, because I believe that our government must put the needs of working families first."

She added, "No one fought harder for President Biden's agenda than progressives. We rallied together with our supporters, held town halls in our communities, engaged new people, and we even played hardball in Congress."

"But two forces stood in the way: a Republican Party that serves only the rich and the powerful and just enough corporate backed Democratic obstructionists to help them succeed."

Tlaib also said that Build Back Better was "unfinished" and that progressives were ready to "jumpstart" the plan. She called on "Working Families majority" to "...work with President Biden to deliver for you and your family," and said Biden could "…use his executive power to take action right now to deliver for the people." This on issues such as canceling student loan debt, reducing carbon emissions and breaking up pharmaceutical monopolies.

Contrary to Biden’s call during the State of the Union to fund the police, Tlaib encouraged Congress to address criminal justice reform by providing counseling resources, not law enforcement, to solve spiking crime.

Tlaib stated, "We can’t police away homelessness, poverty or the mental health crisis in our country. Care, not MORE criminalization, is how we ensure lasting safety for all."

Rep. Josh Gottheimer, (D-NJ), told Axios that Tlaib responding to the president's address is "…like keying your own car and slashing your own tires."

"It’s massively counterproductive. This only highlights the real tension between the socialist far left and the common-sense moderate wing, which is focused on crime, costs, tax cuts and affordability, and turning the page on COVID."

In an op-ed for The Daily Beast, Eleanor Clift called Tlaib’s address "…a gift to the GOP."

"On the night of President Joe Biden’s first State of the Union address, in which the president called for unity against both foreign and domestic threats, why would a fellow Democrat feel compelled to deliver a progressive response?"

The MSNBC contributor added, "At a time when polls show voters think Biden is already too far left, Tlaib’s grabbing a State of the Union platform struck others in the party as self-destructive in the extreme.

"Why does any Democrat at this moment think it’s a good idea to attack other Democrats on the night of the President’s State of the Union, it’s insane," says Matt Bennett, a co-founder of Third Way, a moderate Democratic group.

Clift noted that "Democrats are looking at a potential blowout in November if they can’t reverse voters’ negative impressions of what they’ve accomplished since gaining control of the White House and both chambers of Congress."