Squad member Rashida Tlaib slams Biden for giving ‘genocidal maniac’ Netanyahu a ‘blank check’ as she urges Michigan to vote against the president in Tuesday’s primaries

‘Squad’ member Rashida Tlaib attacked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyhau as a “genocidal maniac” at a rally in her home district Monday, where she mocked expressions of concern from colleagues that she said “enabled killings of Palestinians.”

Tlaib, the first Palestinian American woman to serve in Congress, criticized political opponents Monday in the final hours before Tuesday’s primaries as she stood in front of a huge Palestinian flag emblazoned with the slogans “STOP GENOCIDE” and “CEASEFIRE NOW.”

It came amid an impassioned effort to boost support for “Uncomposed” during Tuesday’s primaries, which could return President Biden to a state he needs to beat Donald Trump.

“In recent weeks we have heard a lot about the president and government being described as ‘concerned’, alarmed by the actions of the Israeli government. And yet, this past week, I was hopeful that I really was, this past week our country vetoed a United Nations resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire — action to literally push Congress into minutes to send more weapons to Netanyahu’s genocidal maniac,” she raged.

The line drew boos and chants of “Ceasefire now!” from members of the crowd that packed an event center in Dearborn.

She said fellow lawmakers came to her and vouched for their own support for a two-state solution as an expression of solidarity, but then did nothing.

“I say great, you just gave it (military aid) to someone who doesn’t support a two-state solution. They enable and (encourage) more killings,” she said.

“And yet, time and time again, the opportunity comes to take a stand and vote against sending billions of dollars in unconditional, blank checks for military funding, and they don’t find that courage.”

Detroit City Councilwoman Gabriella Santiago-Romero knows a losing Democratic presidential campaign in Michigan when she sees one.

She was a young campaign aide for Hillary Clinton when the former secretary of state infamously visited the state just days before her stunning 2016 loss to Donald Trump.

Standing in the ballroom full of activists, Santiago-Romero says that as a Clinton volunteer, she knew within weeks that the former secretary of state would go down.

Now, at the ceasefire meeting in Dearborn, which has the nation’s largest Muslim population per capita, she says a protest to get people to choose ‘Uncommitted’ over the sitting president is the policy from Joe Biden, which costs him a lot of money here.

“It will reinforce Biden’s message calling for a ceasefire, and doing more to hold Israel accountable,” she told DailyMail.com.

‘We are here. We have always been here,” she said of a collection of activists, Arab Americans, Muslim Americans, teachers and organizers who came to hear Rep. Rashida Tlaib and other speakers supporting the efforts.

“If the Democrats lose, it will be entirely their fault,” she said.

Santiago-Romero says she knew Clinton would face problems if it made belated efforts to move staff like herself to the campaign, and argues that Biden’s campaign in the battleground state is not where it should be.

“They’re scrambling,” she said. She says Donald Trump is a “very real threat” but that people who would otherwise support Biden are not making idle threats. ‘This isn’t a game. We are very serious,” she said.

About 200 people, many wearing black-checked keffiyeh, were packed into an event space next to a kabob restaurant and “Gentleman’s Club” in the city of about 100,000.

At the back of the room were some literature by Marx and Lenin, plus pamphlets about stopping the war in Ukraine. Protesters outside the room held signs reading “Jews Bomb Hospitals” and “Six Million?” Real?’ – although the crowd in the room cheered approvingly when a speaker denounced the October 7 Hamas attack in Israel and said that killing innocent people anywhere is wrong.

One participant, English teacher Jazzaray James, said she was determined to vote Tuesday to send a message. “I feel like it’s going to have a ripple effect,” she says of the “Uncommitted” effort.

“There is a large segment of the American people who are frustrated with both sides,” she said.

She supported Biden in 2020, but now says it is too late for him to win back her support — even if he does turn against Israel and publicly demand a permanent ceasefire. “I’m still not going to vote for Biden or Trump,” she said. I’m going to vote for a third party.’

“Even if they decided to (change) them, to f*** them for their decisions that he has already made, the millions of people who have already died,” she said, criticizing Biden on human rights in general .

Leaders of the ‘Uncommitted’ campaign are not ignoring concerns some voters might have about paving his path to a second term by weakening Biden.

Before the microphones, Tlaib, former Bernie Sanders campaign chair Nina Turner, and other speakers specifically mentioned Trump. They say their pressure will strengthen, not weaken, Biden, by giving him more defensible policies.

“Trump is an existential threat to our democracy,” Tlaib said, “and President Biden risks another Trump term because of his support for the right-wing government of the most extreme government in Israel’s history,” she said.

“The naked truth right now is that our country aids and abets genocide,” Turner shouted into a microphone as she walked among the rally participants.

She was one of many organizers who applied the label to Israel.

Top Democratic politicians in the state have acknowledged the momentum behind the “Uncommitted” effort amid concerns that it could embarrass Biden, who won a landslide primary.

A new Emerson College / De Heuvel Poll had Biden with 75 percent support, compared to 5 percent for Rep. Dean Phillips (D-Minn.) and 9 percent planned to vote “Uncommitted.” With just one day before the primaries, 12 percent were still undecided.

“Right now we have two candidates in this race. One: we can’t hold on. The other one is just not doing the right thing,” Detroit activist Maureen Taylor, state chair of the Michigan Welfare Rights Organization, told DailyMail.com.

‘But we have no choice. But whatever happens in November, we have four years after that to get a million people across the country. ‘We’re going to sit back and say: if you don’t do what we want, we’re going to take over the homes, the hospitals, the daycare centers and the schools. You do what we say or none of you will get paid.”