Rashida Tlaib Plans to Be Part of a New Era in the House

When Representative John Conyers Jr., who represented Detroit, resigned following accusations of sexual harassment, was there a moment when you were like “Why not me for Congress?”

When there was talk about him retiring, that’s when the light bulb went off. It was not just that Trump was in office, but also the kind of injustice that I see right now in the 13th Congressional District, where we’re handing out corporate tax breaks to billionaires to build hockey stadiums downtown and everybody keeps talking about this so-called “comeback” in this city, but then my neighborhood still hasn’t gotten services it needs. And being a Muslim, being Arab, being a woman of color — the possibility of being a member of Congress, what a message that would be.

You’ve said you want to be part of the movement that’s getting rid of “sellout Democrats.” What defines a “sellout Democrat”?

I was talking about some of my opponents that supported corporate tax breaks for for-profit development in the 13th Congressional District that took away money from schooling, from education funding. Do I feel like they’re speaking on behalf of all of us or speaking on behalf of some?

You’ve also said that you would probably not vote for Nancy Pelosi for speaker if Democrats capture the House. Why not?

Because I’m part of a new generation of people that are coming in. We speak differently. We work differently. We serve differently. And this is not to say that I don’t appreciate the incredible leadership of the last three or four decades by Leader Pelosi. But this is a new era. There’s a new generation of leaders that are coming up the ranks that are coming from a perspective that is so much more connected now with what’s happening on the ground. Over half the members of Congress right now are millionaires. Are they dealing with class sizes of 45? Are they dealing with the fact that they can’t seem to find good-quality public-school education in their district?

...You’ve discussed wanting to humanize Palestinians to people in the United States.

So many talk about the leadership, the different policies, but I don’t think they realize what’s going on on the ground. Like my grandmother: She’s in the West Bank, 10 miles outside Ramallah. She’s in a small village — like 700 people live there. She walks out of her door, literally in front of her house is a checkpoint. It’s brand new. It wasn’t there when I was 7, when I visited. It wasn’t there when I was 11 or 12 years old, when I visited. It wasn’t there when I was 19. When people ask me, “Do you support this or that?” I say: “You know what? I support my grandmother getting access to the best hospital for care, and that means being able to travel to Jerusalem.”