Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D., Mich.) said she was "really afraid" of Americans after the 9/11 terrorist attacks in an interview filmed for the women's media site Makers.
"I was probably in my second year in law school when 9/11 happened," Tlaib said. "And I was — I was really terrified of what was going to happen to my husband, who was only a green card holder at the time."
"I immediately called my brothers and told them to be very careful who you hang out with, telling my sisters, you know, just be real careful out there, and being really afraid of my fellow Americans," Tlaib continued. "It really pushed me to be more involved, and I got really curious and really angry. And I think that combination got me, you know, in front of a number of issues in the city of Detroit."
The video on Makers' website, in which Tlaib's remarks came out, was first reported on by TheBlaze.
Earlier this month, Tlaib defended Rep. Ilhan Omar (D., Minn.) after the latter described 9/11 as "some people did something." Tlaib condemned as racist the backlash against Omar for seeming to downplay the attacks.
"Taking it out of context, this is just pure racist act [sic] by many of those, hateful acts by those because she does speak truth when it talks about different issues that they disagree with. I'm really outraged because as a person that has gotten direct death threats myself, I know her life is put in more danger and I see her not just my sister and colleague, but I see her as a mother of three. The fact that people are irresponsibly taking those words out of context … is wrong and needs to be called out by many colleagues," Tlaib said.