Anatomy of a Smear Campaign Against Rashida Tlaib

A step-by-step breakdown of how a lie started, spread, and was picked up on by elected officials and high-profile journalists.

Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D) is being accused of antisemitism by elected officials and mainstream journalists for saying something she never said. 

Here’s how it happened:

Sept. 12: Earlier this month, the Michigan lawmaker called out her state’s Democratic attorney general, Dana Nessel, for announcing charges against 11 pro-Palestine protesters at the University of Michigan.

“Instead of getting justice, not one criminal charge in the Flint Water Crisis, you're going to spend time in trying to use the power of your office to silence people's First Amendment right,” Tlaib said during a Black-Palestine solidarity panel, moderated by Zeteo’s Mehdi Hasan.

Sept. 13: “This is a move that’s going to set a precedent, and it’s unfortunate that a Democrat made that move,” Tlaib elaborated in an interview with the Detroit Metro Times. “You would expect that from a Republican, but not a Democrat, and it’s really unfortunate.”

”We’ve had the right to dissent, the right to protest,” she added. “We’ve done it for climate, the immigrant rights movement, for Black lives, and even around issues of injustice among water shutoffs. But it seems that the attorney general decided if the issue was Palestine, she was going to treat it differently, and that alone speaks volumes about possible biases within the agency she runs.” 

Nessel’s prosecutions were also criticized by groups including Michigan’s ACLU chapter.

Sept. 20: Days later, Tlaib was the target of a racist editorial cartoon that implied she was part of Hezbollah. The cartoon depicted the only Palestinian member of Congress saying “Odd. My pager just exploded,” in reference to the Israeli military terrorist attacks on Lebanon.

Sept. 22: Nessel joined scores of Democrats in condemning the cartoon. “Rashida’s religion should not be used in a cartoon to imply that she’s a terrorist. It’s Islamophobic and wrong,” Nessel wrote on X. “Just as Rashida should not use my religion to imply I cannot perform my job fairly as Attorney General. It’s anti-Semitic and wrong.”

Sept. 22: Then, on Sunday, CNN anchor Jake Tapper questioned Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on the matter. “Do you think Attorney General Nessel is not doing her job? Because Congresswoman Tlaib is suggesting that she shouldn’t be prosecuting these individuals that Nessel says broke the law and that she’s only doing it because she’s Jewish and the protestors are not — that’s quite an accusation, do you think it’s true?”

Whitmer said she didn’t want to get in the middle of the matter but expressed concern for Jewish communities and Palestinian, Arab and Muslim communities, as well as support for free speech rights.

Then, media outlet Jewish Insider reported on Whitmer’s remarks, writing that Whitmer didn’t “speak out against Rashida Tlaib’s insinuation that the AG charged campus demonstrators because she’s Jewish.” 

“Tlaib has also claimed that Nessel is only charging the protesters because she’s Jewish,” the outlet wrote, providing no quote to corroborate the claim and linking to the Metro Times story in which the lawmaker said no such thing.

Shortly after, Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt condemned Whitmer for not speaking out against Tlaib. “When a congresswoman accuses the attorney general of prosecuting protestors simply because she’s Jewish, it’s bias,” Greenblatt posted on X, echoing the defamatory lie about Tlaib. (Greenblatt later deleted the post.)

Tapper then boosted Greenblatt’s statement on X, writing: “ADL response to Whitmer on SOTU today.”

Sept. 23: On Monday, CNN’s Dana Bash reinforced the lie further, summarizing Tapper’s interview with Whitmer: “…my co-anchor, Jake Tapper, asked about a Democratic congresswoman’s accusation that the state’s Jewish attorney general was letting her religion influence her job.”

In conversation with Bash, CNN’s David Chalian reiterated the idea: “It’s not very hard to say that Rashida Tlaib saying that Dana Nessel is pursuing charges because she’s Jewish is an antisemitic thing to say — it is.”

Shortly after, Metro Times reporter Steve Neavling, author of the original story that spurred the cycle, published a new article: “Fact-check: Tlaib did not say Nessel charged pro-Palestinian protesters because she’s Jewish.”

In it, Neavling writes: “Tlaib never once mentioned Nessel’s religion or Judaism. But Metro Times pointed out in the story that Nessel is Jewish, and that appears to be the spark that led to the false claims.”

An hour after the fact-check published, Tapper posted a new statement from Whitmer’s office: “The suggestion that Attorney General Nessel would make charging decision based on her religion as opposed to the rule of law is antisemitic. Attorney General Nessel has always conducted her work with integrity and followed the rule of law. We must all use our platform and voices to call out hateful rhetoric and racist tropes.”

Neavling responded to Tapper’s tweet saying: “I’m the reporter who interviewed Rashida Tlaib. She never said Nessel did this because she’s Jewish. Never. You’re spreading lies.”

On Monday evening, Nessel appeared on CNN, with Tapper, who partially walked back from his earlier peddling of the lie.

“I should note that I misspoke yesterday when asking a follow up of Governor Whitmer who I asked about this. I was trying to characterize your views of Tlaib’s comments,” Tapper said. “What do you make of those today, noting that Congresswoman Tlaib never explicitly said your bias was because of your religion, and so it’s unfair for you to make that allegation?” 

“In 2022, when my opponent [Republican Matthew DePerno] accused me of being a groomer and a pedophile, everybody understood that those were homophobic remarks because I happen to be gay,” Nessel started.  “Rashida Tlaib is an individual who is well-known for making inflammatory and incendiary remarks that are antisemitic in nature, so this isn’t the first time that we would’ve heard these words out of her mouth,” she continued, saying she thought it was “very clear” exactly what Tlaib was saying.

Sometime Tuesday, Jewish Insider edited the original story, without adding a correction or clarification. “Tlaib has also claimed that Nessel is only charging the protesters because she’s Jewish” became “Tlaib has also suggested that Nessel is only charging the protesters because she’s Jewish.” 

Of course, this manufactured lie about Tlaib has wholly obscured that Tlaib was victim to a racist cartoon donning the pages of publications like the National Review; that she had actually begun garnering support and sympathy from her colleagues; and that Tlaib’s “original sin” was speaking out in defense of students protesting their tuition supporting a US-funded genocidal campaign in Palestine.

Tlaib’s original remarks criticizing Nessel focused on the prosecution of pro-Palestine protestors, critiques shared by advocacy groups, including the Michigan chapter of the ACLU. Most of the charges are against students, including Jewish students, who refused to vacate a campus encampment after police ordered them to leave as they demanded the school divest from “weapons manufacturers and war profiteers complicit in the genocide in Palestine.” The arrests came as police allegedly used batons, and “Deep Freeze,” self-described as the “most intense, incapacitating agent available today,” to arrest the students.