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Rashida Tlaib slammed for endorsing prison abolition bill to 'empty federal jails'

The Democrat Congresswoman conceeded in an interview on Monday, November 22, that there were indeed some people who belonged in prison

Michigan Rep Rashida Tlaib was blasted after she admitted in a new interview that she doesn't necessarily support the details in a bill that she endorsed last year designed to abolish federal prisons over the course of a decade.

The Democrat congresswoman, who belongs to the liberal 'Squad' alongside fellow House Reps Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ayanna Pressley, ‎Ilhan Omar, ‎Jamaal Bowman, and ‎Cori Bush, conceded in an interview on Monday, November 22 that there were indeed some people who belonged in prison. Axios reporter Jonathan Swan pressed Tlaib on her support for the BREATHE Act, which calls for the Justice Department and the Health & Human Services Department to create a "roadmap for prison abolition," including the "full decarceration of federal detention facilities within 10 years" and "a moratorium on all new federal prison, jail, immigrant and youth detention construction," Fox News reported.

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"To what extent have you wrestled with releasing any potential downsides of releasing into society every single person who is currently in a federal prison?" Swan asked Tlaib. "Yeah, I think that everyone's like, ‘Oh my God, we're going to just release everybody,’" she responded. "That’s not what I’m—"

"That’s what the act says," Swan interjected. "Yeah, but did you see how many people are mentally ill that are in prison right now," Tlaib offered. "No, I know," Swan said. "But the act you endorsed actually says release everyone in 10 years... There are like, human traffickers, child sex [predators]. Do you mean that you don’t actually support that? Because you endorsed the bill."

The Michigan Democrat, however, continued to argue that there were several inmates struggling with mental health or substance abuse issues and that they ought to be rehabilitated instead of incarcerated. "Why aren’t you asking me about them?" she asked the journalist. "You’re asking me about the human traffickers and others that should be able to be held accountable." To this Swan replied, "What I’m trying to understand is, your proposal is so sweeping. It does release everyone."

"Oh, yeah, within 10 years," answered Tlaib, saying that there would be a "process" to figure out how to "get away from mass incarceration and move toward care first." However, Swan finally got Tlaib to answer one key question. "Do you believe that there are still categories of people who should be behind bars?" Swan asked. "There are, absolutely," Tlaib said. "I don't think there's any rehabilitation happening right now for those that might actually have… mental health issues."

"Do you think all people can be rehabilitated?" Swan then asked. "I don’t think so. I’ve been very clear about that," Tlaib stated. "I would have to look at every case individually and figure all of that out. Everyone in jail is not the same," she added.

Social media was inundated with criticisms of the Tlaib, including a tweet by South Carolina Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, who wrote that the congresswoman's proposal was a more "radical" implementation of "Defund the Police."

"Oddly enough, Congresswoman Tlaib has had a tough time convincing Congress to follow her lead on emptying prisons," the senator tweeted. "However, the Taliban jumped all over this idea. When they took over Afghanistan first thing they did was empty all the prisons – including releasing terrorists." He then asked, "What could possibly go wrong? And why didn’t the media bring up this proposal during the 2020 presidential campaign?"

Political Science Professor Eddie Zipperer chimed in, "Tlaib says, 'I would have to look at each case individually.' Someone should explain to her that there’s a branch of government whose ENTIRE function is to look at each case individually, and it’s not the branch she chose."

"This is just a cringe-worthy performance," reporter Matthew Chapman added. "Tlaib repeatedly endorses a proposal that would abolish federal prisons, then acknowledges there are some violent criminals, like child traffickers, who probably can't ever be rehabilitated, but sticks to endorsing the proposal anyway." Another reporter Byron York, commenting on the interview, tweeted, "Some great questions for Rep Tlaib, which she does not know how to answer."