A House Democrat and Republican sparred over what the former called Donald Trump’s “fascist takeover” of Washington, D.C.
Michigan Rep. Rashida Tlaib’s use of that term to describe the National Guard deployment to the capital and the federalization of the city’s police force prompted backlash from Florida’s Byron Donalds, who took offense by asking whether he looked like a “member of the Third Reich.”
The shouting match during a congressional oversight committee hearing Thursday began when Tlaib criticized Republicans’ portrayal of the capital in part by claiming they were just regurgitating baseless narratives and not talking about the district’s “beautiful parts.”
“I think it’s really important—we need to stand up against this fascist takeover. That’s not a bad word. It’s a fact,” Tlaib told her colleagues in the the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, which is chaired by Republican James Comer.
“And here in D.C. and across the country, it is so incredibly important, Mr. Chair, that this committee does not allow rhetoric that…paints Washington, D.C., in a way that you all haven’t really truly seen,” Tlaib went on.
“You’re just reading it or something off of some—” she continued as Donalds jumped in.
“Chairman, I think it’s insane… She’s going to refer to me and some of my colleagues like we were from the Third Reich,” he said. “This is insane. It’s insane. It’s insane. It’s insane.”
Donalds then asked: “Do I look like a member of the Third Reich to you, Ms. Tlaib? Is that what I look like to you?”
“Oh, please!” exclaimed Tlaib, who then criticized Donalds on two other topics. The first was his vote this week to lower the age to try D.C. juveniles charged with some violent offenses to 14 years old. The second was a February allegation of ghost voting, where Donalds was recorded as having voted on the House floor despite not being in the capitol. Ghost voting is against House rules.
The two then yelled at one another, demanding they each hold themselves accountable.
Since the confrontation, Tlaib has been mum on X, while Donalds accused her of using “the exact same irresponsible rhetoric that inspired Tyler Robinson,” the accused killer of Charlie Kirk. In another post, he suggested Tlaib “defamed” him.
Tlaib’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily Beast.
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