Democratic Michigan Rep. Rashida Tlaib on Saturday denied recent reports that she was sworn in with former President Thomas Jefferson’s 18th-century Quran. Tlaib insisted that she instead used her own copy of the Islamic scriptures to make her ceremonial swear-in “more personal.”
“I used my own *personal Quran* that my best friend of 25 years gifted me to use for the ceremonial swear in (basically a photo with Speaker Pelosi). *Note: I did not use Jefferson’s Quran as reported. I wanted it to be more personal (and my own),” she wrote.
I used my own *personal Quran* that my best friend of 25 years gifted me to use for the ceremonial swear in (basically a photo with Speaker Pelosi).
*Note: I did not use Jefferson’s Quran as reported. I wanted it to be more personal (and my own). pic.twitter.com/DRTn3EuB8y
— Rashida Tlaib (@RashidaTlaib) January 6, 2019
Tlaib’s clarification comes after many outlets reported that the freshman congresswoman used the same two-volume English translation of the Quran once owned by Jefferson and used for the swearing-in ceremony of former Democratic Minnesota Rep. Keith Ellison, who was the first Muslim elected to Congress. (RELATED: Keith Ellison Facing Violent Domestic Abuse Allegations Less Than A Week Before Primaries)
U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) places his hand on an English translation of the Koran once owned by Thomas Jefferson and held by his wife Kim (C) as he is sworn in as the first Muslim member of Congress by Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi on Captitol Hill in Washington, January 4th, 2007. REUTERS/Jim Young
Rep. Tlaib stoked controversy Thursday when footage emerged of her cursing out the president as a “motherfucker” and calling for his impeachment. (RELATED: ‘Impeach The Motherf****r’: Democratic Lawmaker Goes After Trump On Her First Day In Office)
We got congresspeople out here calling the president a mother fucker pic.twitter.com/GCXSPQbPb8
— Barstool News Network (@BarstoolNewsN) January 4, 2019
On Friday she walked away from reporters who asked her about the incident. When asked about it Friday, the president characterized her comments as “disgraceful,” and claimed that such behavior dishonored both her family and herself, and showed disrespect to the United States. (RELATED: Trump Says Rashida Tlaib Dishonored Her Family, Country With Profane Impeachment Remarks)