Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) officially endorsed Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) on Sunday, endearingly calling him “Amo Bernie” and proclaiming he is “not going to sell us out.”
Tlaib officially joined her far-left “Squad” members Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and Ilhan Omar (D-MN) on Sunday in endorsing Sanders’ presidential bid. In a formal endorsement video released Sunday, Tlaib praises “Amo Bernie” for standing up for the “Squad” after President Trump suggested that the “’Progressive’ Democrat Congresswomen” who constantly criticize the United States leave and fix other corrupt nations and “come back and show us how it is done.”
“Amo Bernie is what I like to call him, which “amo” means “uncle” in Arabic,” Tlaib explains in the video.
“I think Amo Bernie, when he saw not just myself but my other sisters in service being attacked but this president, by this bully, for him there was no hesitation. He jumped on board and said ‘What can I do to uplift you all? What can I do to support you all?'” she continued.
Tlaib claimed that “this institution” has not been ready for women such as herself and heaped praise on Sanders for continually supporting their progressive efforts.
“The fact that he truly believes that women like us, women that this institution hasn’t been ready for, that we feel supported. And from day one he’s always made us feel like that,” she continued.
“I’m endorsing Amo Bernie Sanders because he understands that it’s not just about policies and words but it’s going to be also about completely transforming the structures in place that is hurting American people,” she added:
Tlaib stressed that Sanders is “not going to sell us out,” which some view as a veiled shot at other candidates in the Democrat field:
I mean there’s something incredibly inspiring about someone that we know is not going to sell us out, that’s not going to bow down to these structures that are so built on racism, built on choosing those that are wealthy, that he’s consistent in saying that he’s with us first.
“He will always choose us first,” she added:
Tlaib also appeared alongside Sanders at a rally at Cass Tech High School in Detroit on Sunday.
“He never once wavered in fighting for us, fighting for civil rights and equality,” she told the crowd.
Sanders heaped praise on Tlaib for “standing up against the vulgarity and ugliness of Donald Trump” and taking on the “greed and corruption of the economic establishment.”
Sanders said:
What Rashida has been doing in less than one year is become a national figure, not just in standing up against the vulgarity and ugliness of Donald Trump, but she has taken on in a very forceful way, the greed and corruption of the economic establishment and stood up to the political establishment as well.
“Thank you (Shukran!) Amo @berniesanders or coming to our community to see firsthand and hear from the very people hurt by #corporategreed,” Tlaib wrote following Sanders’ visit. “I am proud to endorse you for President of the United States”: