The Hallendale Beach city commissioner said that the Muslim lawmaker, a newly elected Democrat from Michigan, is a 'danger'
ADVERTISEMENTA city commissioner from Florida is under fire and facing calls for her resignation for writing online that newly elected Michigan Rep. Rashida Tlaib, who is Muslim, was "a danger" who might decide to "blow up Capitol Hill."
The commissioner, Anabelle Lima-Taub, of Hallendale Beach, signed an online petition last week calling for Tlaib's removal, according to a photo of the petition posted by the Sun Sentinel.
"Proudly signed," she wrote. "A Hamas loving anti-Semite has NO place in government! She is a danger and would not put it past her to become a martyr and blow up Capitol Hill."
Lima-Taub's online biography says she was born in Israel and was elected to the Hallandale Beach Commission in November 2016, vowing to restore ethics to local government and promote public safety. Her Facebook post has since been removed, and the commissioner did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
The Florida chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations called for Lima-Taub's resignation.
"CAIR-Florida strongly condemns the disgraceful racist and Islamophobic statements published by Commissioner Anabelle Lima-Taub," CAIR-Florida Communications Director Wilfredo Ruiz said in a statement. "Her un-American, xenophobic statements establish that she is unfit to hold the Commissioner's seat. She must apologize immediately and follow up that apology with her resignation."
Tlaib, a Democrat, is a Palestinian-American from Michigan and became one of the first two Muslim women in Congress.
She condemned Lima-Taub's remarks in a tweet that laid some of the blame with President Donald Trump.
"This sort of hateful anti-Muslim rhetoric doesn't happen in a vacuum — this President embraced it and Republicans have happily gone along with it," she tweeted.
Hours later, in another tweet talking about the shutdown and media coverage, Tlaib wrote, "Yes, I am Muslim and Palestinian. Get over it."
Her office did not respond to a request for additional comment.