Rep. Rashida Tlaib Refuses To Back Down: Trump Should ‘Absolutely’ Be Impeached

Last updated on January 18th, 2019 at 04:59 pm

Despite phony Republican backlash earlier this month to her off-the-cuff remark that Donald Trump – who she called a motherf****r – should be impeached, Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib is refusing to back down.

In an interview with MSNBC‘s Chris Hayes on Wednesday, she doubled down on her earlier controversial comments, saying that she “absolutely” still believes the president should be impeached.

The Democratic newcomer pointed to the president’s constant use of the government to advance his business interests as one reason he should be removed from office.

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“He’s making decisions based on profit, not based on what’s the best interest of our people,” she said.

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Rep. Tlaib said:

Absolutely. Just today, we found out that even though our national parks are closed, that the Trump hotel in D.C. is being staffed by park rangers. Despite the fact that we have no staffing, no parks open for the American people, and even today the inspector general said that the federal agencies were in violation of the United States Constitution by creating a lease agreement with the Trump Organization. This is leading continually on to know that there’s a direct violation of the United States Constitution. Think about the precedent that we’re setting, allowing a president of the United States not to divest in all of his corporations. He’s making decisions based on profit, not based on what’s the best interest of our people.

Trump continues to milk the government while federal workers go without pay

As Rep. Tlaib said on Wednesday, the government may be shut down, but Donald Trump hasn’t stopped using it as his personal piggy bank.

According to NPR, while the government has forced the closure of many hot tourism spots in Washington D.C., there is one place that is hasn’t: Trump‘s hotel.

The report notes, “One of the very few government-owned tourist attractions that’s still open is just a few blocks away, in the clock tower of the historic, 1899-vintage Old Post Office building.”

The attraction, the report continues, is “owned by the federal government, which leases the building to the Trump International Hotel, itself operated by President Trump‘s Trump Organization.”

This despite the fact that, as Jason Easley wrote on Wednesday, this lease is a complete violation of the constitution, which the courts are likely to rule when the ongoing emoluments lawsuit reaches its conclusion.

Until then, Trump continues to reap the personal benefits of using the government as his personal bank account as hundreds of thousands of federal workers go without any pay.

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Sean Colarossi

Sean Colarossi currently resides in Cleveland, Ohio. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and was an organizing fellow for both of President Obama’s presidential campaigns. He also worked with Planned Parenthood as an Affordable Care Act Outreach Organizer in 2014, helping northeast Ohio residents obtain health insurance coverage.