Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., questions Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump’s former lawyer, as he testifies before the House Oversight and Reform Committee, on Capitol Hill, Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2019, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

When I hear Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) speak, I can’t believe she was ever elected to public office.

The Palestinian-American Congresswoman recently co-sponsored a resolution in the House with her great pal Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) to support the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement. Last week, she was one of 17 lawmakers to vote against a House resolution to condemn BDS. She compared the BDS movement to the American boycott of Nazi Germany.

Tlaib spoke to Jake Tapper on CNN’s “State of the Union” this morning. Even Tapper was a bit ruffled by several of Tlaib’s replies. Below are some of the highlights.

An absolutely stunning moment from a member of Congress this morning.

Democrat Rep. Rashida Tlaib: Israel “exists” to the “detriment” of Palestinians. pic.twitter.com/B1JE7hkgjU

— Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) July 28, 2019

Tapper addressed Tlaib, “So you talk about the hate agenda and there is criticism of you from fellow Democrats for your support for the BDS movement for boycott, divest, sanctions, an anti-Israel movement.”

She responds:

Well it is anti…it is criticizing the racist policies of Israel and it is a boycott…I can tell you that all around college campuses, there are Jews, Muslims, Hindus, all different kinds of backgrounds who are pushing back against racist policies in Israel because they see the human rights violations of children being detained…We all know that under Netanyahu’s regime, human rights violations have gotten worse.

Switching gears, Tapper asked her, “Do you think the Jewish people have the right to a state in the area where Israel exists now?”

Tlaib gave a qualified answer.

I truly believe the state of Israel is – it exists, correct.

But understand, does it exist in the detriment of inequality for the Palestinian people? The detriment of not moving forward in a peaceful resolution? We’re never going to have peace, I truly believe, if separate but equal is the way they want to go. And I could tell you I learned that from my African-American teachers in Detroit public schools who showed me what the pain of oppression looks like. We’re not gonna have peace if we don’t understand that we are dehumanizing Palestinians every single day when we choose Israel over their rights.

Tapper asks again, “Yes or no, does Israel have a right to exist?”

Tlaib replies, “Of course, but just like Palestinians have a right to exist. Palestinians also have a right to human rights. We can’t say one or the other. We have to say it in the same breath or we’re not gonna actually have a peaceful resolution.”

Not everyone was okay with Tlaib’s qualified answers when asked if she believes that Israel has the right to resist. Each time she was asked, she said “yes,” and each yes was immediately qualified by a “but.”

This didn’t sit too well with most conservatives and I would imagine even some liberals. Here are some responses to Steve Guest’s tweet about Tlaib’s comments. (via Twitchy)

“Rashid Tlaib, as a US Congresswoman, exists to the detriment of Americans.”

“Democrats embrace anti-Semitic philosophy. Got that, America?”

“Baltimore exists to the detriment of Maryland.”

“”Baltimore is a shithole”: REEEEEEEEEEEE RACIST!  – “Israel is detrimental”: *crickets*”

“Tlaib: Free state in Middle East causing problems for rise of oppressive terrorist power.”

“Thank God for Israel.”  (Twitchy notes that for whatever reason, Twitter chose to ‘hide’ this reply on the thread.)