Good thing your grandma won’t see you! Trump trolls Tlaib over refusal to visit Israel
US President Donald Trump has took another swipe at Rep. Rashida Tlaib, saying that the “only winner" of her decision to pass on an Israeli invitation to visit on “humanitarian grounds” was her 90-year-old Palestinian grandmother.
Trump, who had previously urged Israel to deny entry to Tlaib (D-Michigan) and her fellow freshman representative Ilhan Omar (D–Minnesota), accused the Palestinian-American lawmaker of “grandstanding” after she publicly turned down the invitation extended by Tel Aviv.
The Israeli authorities initially refused to welcome either Tlaib or Omar into the country over their much-publicized support for a boycott against Israel. The entry ban was reversed earlier on Friday after Tlaib penned a letter to Israeli Interior Minister Aryeh Deri, asking him to allow her in to visit her elderly grandmother.
However, mere hours after Tel Aviv greenlighted her request on “humanitarian grounds,” Tlaib made an about-face, saying she would not be coming after all while citing “oppressive conditions” and accusing Israel of taking advantage of her desire to see her relatives to “silence” her.
Rep. Tlaib wrote a letter to Israeli officials desperately wanting to visit her grandmother. Permission was quickly granted, whereupon Tlaib obnoxiously turned the approval down, a complete setup. The only real winner here is Tlaib’s grandmother. She doesn’t have to see her now!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 16, 2019
“As soon as she was granted permission, she grandstanded & loudly proclaimed she would not visit Israel. Could this possibly have been a setup? Israel acted appropriately!” Trump sounded off on Twitter, accusing Tlaib of acting “obnoxiously” in snubbing the generously extended invitation.
The only real winner here is Tlaib’s grandmother. She doesn’t have to see her now!
Explaining her decision to shun the invite, Tlaib said that if she agrees to the restrictive conditions imposed by Tel Aviv, such as her promising “not to promote boycott against Israel,” it would “break [her] grandmother’s heart.”
Also on rt.com Citing ‘oppressive conditions,’ Rep. Tlaib signals she won’t visit Israel after entry ban reversalTrump has been pushing Israel to bar the congresswomen from its territory while accusing them of spewing vitriol at Israel and its people.
Trump's statement echoed the remark by Israel’s Interior Minister Aryeh Deri, who earlier called Tlaib’s change of heart a deliberate “provocation” aimed at “embarrassing” Israel.
