Rep. Rashida Tlaib's visit to Florida to campaign for her colleagues' challengers sparks controversy

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — A late-in-the-campaign push on behalf of three progressive candidates in Florida’s Democratic primaries is generating outrage — unfairly, organizers argue — amid a deepening nationwide rift within the party.

Three events Friday in South Florida were, until late Thursday, being headlined by U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, a champion of progressive causes, the first and only Palestinian American elected to Congress and a thorn in the side of establishment, centrist Democrats.

Tlaib is also a prominent critic of Israel; her rhetoric has been chastised by Jewish colleagues as an antisemitic call for eradicating Jews, a charge the congresswoman and her supporters reject.

The main event on her schedule was Chomp the Oligarchy, a late-night Broward rally.

The event was aimed at getting out the vote for Oliver Larkin, who is challenging U.S. Rep. Jared Moskowitz; Elijah Manley, one of the candidates running against U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz; and state Rep. Angie Nixon, who is running against Alex Vindman for the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate.

An outpouring of opposition to the Tlaib-headlined event, sparked by a Thursday morning social media post from state Rep. Michael Gottlieb, a Democrat, resulted in the event being canceled late in the day.

Gottlieb, who is Jewish, wrote that the planned rally would feature “an Anti-Israel and Anti-Zionism coalition of candidates, make no mistake this is anti-Jew. This is a coalition of candidates and organizations who are on the strongly pro-Palestinian/anti-Israel left, several of whom have been involved in disputes over where anti-Zionism crosses into antisemitism.”

He wrote that the coalition is “specifically targeting Jewish incumbents” Moskowitz and Wasserman Schultz.

And he directed some criticism at the event space rented to hold the rally, The Venue in Wilton Manors. “The irony is many Jews host Bar/Bat mitzvah celebrations at the Venue, I’ve attended several myself … Do not support The Venue, they clearly wish to draw a line in the sand and show their disdain for the very community that supports them.”

Gottlieb said he didn’t have animus toward the facility or people who run it. “I was not really trying to harm The Venue. I was just perplexed that they would cater to the Jewish community and at the same time cater to this event.”

So did Melissa Shiff, a Democratic activist, who said she was among callers urging the facility not to host the Tlaib-headlined rally.

“We are very grateful for The Venue canceling this event. It is the right thing to do for our community,” Shiff said, adding that “the Jewish community in South Florida, they are not just going to turn away” from what is seen as dangerous.

Citing “so much uproar,” Kim Marie, the sales manager at The Venue, said Thursday evening the event was canceled. “We were unaware of the candidates that were coming,” she said.

Cameron Driggers, executive director of the Florida Youth Justice Coalition, and Jack Petocz, senior director of communications at Gen-Z For Change, who were sponsoring the event, criticized the facility and the push that led to the cancellation.

Driggers, Petocz, Larkin, Manley and Nixon said in a statement Thursday evening that it resulted from “vile and islamophobic intimidation campaign from right-wing agitators and conservative Democrats.”

They said they were given the option of disinviting Tlaib or the event would be canceled. The candidates and organizers said they were searching for an alternative location for the event.

“Corporate Democrats and MAGA extremists are watching our movement grow … They can try to pull the rug out from underneath us, take away our venue, send agitators, and throw anything else at us, but they cannot stop us from organizing and fighting for the future we deserve,” the statement says.

Tlaib is also scheduled Friday to participate in a dinner, with Larkin and Nixon, in Miami Beach and to join Nixon in Lauderdale Lakes to address campaign volunteers and launch an afternoon of door-to-door campaigning.

The congresswoman’s decision to travel to Florida — and particularly to campaign against her House Democratic colleagues — generated intense pushback from an unusual constellation of political figures.

Others denouncing the event include U.S. Rep. Randy Fine, a Jewish Republican who represents a district north of Orlando, and Laura Loomer, the far-right political activist with a large social media following.

“I think that it’s no coincidence that she’s coming to target two of the remaining Jewish Democrats,” Fine told Fox News Digital. Loomer, who posted several times on social media this week about the rally and Miami Beach dinner, wrote that Tlaib “is bringing her band of Jew haters to South Florida this Friday.”

Driggers and Petocz said Friday night’s Chomp the Vote rally — its logo is an alligator — was aimed at boosting the campaigns of Larkin, Manley and Nixon by generating a late surge of support among people who are tired of establishment politicians like Moskowitz, Wasserman Schultz and Vindman.

“Across the country, we’ve been seeing a wave of insurgent victories, where progressives are taking on the establishment Democrats,” Petocz said, motivating voters who are tired of inaction on issues such as affordability, affordable housing and increasing the minimum wage.

There’s little time left in Florida. The last day of early voting is Sunday, and primary day is Tuesday.

Driggers and Petocz said they were hoping to recreate energy that helped propel democratic socialists and progressives to victories in New York’s Democratic primaries in June, where Petocz said a similar pre-primary rally “generated a ton of buzz around their candidacies and ultimately helped slingshot them toward victory.”

Driggers acknowledged that “the reality is Florida is not New York City. There’s far less resources. There’s far less investment in progressive organizing. It’s a very difficult political environment.”

They said they had expected between 200 and 400 people, and at least 20 social media content creators were to be on hand to document and spread the word to audiences that don’t get their information from mainstream media. Many are also expected to engage in door-to-door canvassing, with content from their activities pushed out to followers in coming days.

The rally, Driggers said, was to be “the opportunity to blend the new media ecosystem with this slate” of candidates.

Driggers said prominent figures like Tlaib and Melat Kiros can generate attention and overcome the financial advantages enjoyed by establishment politicians.

Tlaib is a founding member of the Squad, a prominent group of progressive members of Congress. Running for reelection in a heavily Democratic district, Tlaib won her own primary in Michigan on Aug. 4, with 74% of the vote. Kiros defeated U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette, a 30-year incumbent in the Colorado Democratic primary in June.

Besides Florida Justice Coalition and Gen-Z for Change, the Chomp the Vote was sponsored by the Broward and Miami-Dade county chapters of Democratic Socialists of America.

Larkin is a DSA member. He has received DSA’s endorsements, as did Tlaib and Kiros.

The Friday night Shabbat dinner in Miami Beach, with Tlaib, Larkin and Nixon, is sponsored by Jewish Voice for Peace, which describes itself as a “progressive Jewish anti-Zionist organization” that, among other things, is in “solidarity with the Palestinian freedom struggle.”

The Nixon campaign is organizing the afternoon event in Lauderdale Lakes.

Even though all three are Democratic members of the House, Moskowitz and Wasserman Schultz have a fraught relationship with Tlaib.

Tlaib has a history of comments about Israel that have been widely condemned by many of her colleagues, including Jewish Democrats from South Florida, over the years.

The Israel-Hamas war has deepened divisions among Democrats nationally. The war began on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas attacked Israel, and 1,200 people were killed. Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry puts the death toll of the ensuing war at 73,000 Palestinians.

About a month after the Oct. 7 attacks on Israel, Tlaib posed a video on social media in which she accused then-President Joe Biden of supporting a genocide of Palestinians and said that voters would remember, unfavorably, how he responded to the Israel-Hamas war.

Tlaib then posted this comment: “From the river to the sea is an aspirational call for freedom, human rights, and peaceful coexistence, not death, destruction, or hate. My work and advocacy is always centered in justice and dignity for all people no matter faith or ethnicity.”

Wasserman Schultz and Moskowitz denounced the statement at the time.

“This phrase means eradicating Israel and Jews. Period. Dressing it up in a new PR ploy won’t change that,” Wasserman Schultz wrote on social media.

The House passed a resolution to censure Tlaib “for promoting false narratives regarding the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel and for calling for the destruction of the state of Israel” with “yes” votes from 212 Republicans and 22 Democrats and “no” votes from four Republicans and 184 Democrats.

“I voted for the censure resolution. Calling for Israel to be eliminated crosses a line. Any member can spew antisemitic vitriol and call for the destruction of the Jewish State. But the House also can make it clear that speech does not reflect the opinion of the chamber,” Moskowitz wrote at the time.

Whether Tlaib is motivated by animus toward Moskowitz and Wasserman Schultz for their censure votes and condemnations of her rhetoric, or by support for their progressive opponents Larkin and Manley — or a combination — is unknown. Phone and email attempts to reach a Tlaib spokesperson in recent days were unsuccessful.

Donna Nevel, of Miami Beach, who is active in Jewish Voice for Peace, described Tlaib as “a hero to so many because she is so principled, and she has been such a fighter for justice, and and not only for the Palestinian people, but for all people who are experiencing injustice. Her voice is always there.”

Nevel said she doesn’t believe Tlaib is motivated by animus toward colleagues who voted to censure her.

“Congresswoman Tlaib by all accounts is extraordinarily ethical and principled,” Nevel said. “It’s not an ‘F-you’ to anybody.”

Petocz said he wouldn’t speculate about Tlaib’s intentions. “She’s been supporting progressives around the country, especially insurgent campaigns that are taking on the Democratic establishment” and “prioritizing working people, not the billionaire class.”

Driggers said he was disappointed that Moskowitz “would vote to censure the only Palestinian American person in Congress. What side are Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Jared Moskowitz on?”

Wasserman Schultz, through a spokesperson, declined to comment about Tlaib’s campaign efforts. In response to an inquiry, she said through a spokesperson that she was “laser-focused on sharing with voters how I’ll take on the rampant corruption and cruelty of Donald Trump, and how I’ll keep pushing to lower healthcare, housing and food costs for all the hardworking families in District 20.”