Hallandale Beach commissioner Annabelle Lima-Taub is under fire after posting comments on social media alleging that one of two Muslim congresswomen elected this year might “blow up Capitol Hill.” NBC 6’s Steve Litz reports.
What to Know
- Anabelle Lima-Taub posted a petition calling for the removal of Michigan Rep. Rashida Tlaib – saying she proudly signed it.
A South Florida commissioner has come under fire – with some groups calling for her resignation – after posting comments on social media alleging that one of two Muslim congresswomen elected this year might “blow up Capitol Hill."
Anabelle Lima-Taub, who was elected to the Hallandale Beach commission in 2016, posted a petition calling for the removal of Michigan Rep. Rashida Tlaib – saying she proudly signed it and called Tlaib an anti-Semite with “no place in government."
"She is a danger and (I) would not put it past her to become a martyr and blow up Capitol Hill,” Lima-Taub added in the post, which was removed sometime Monday.
The South Florida Sun-Sentinel reports that several members of the city’s commission condemned the post, but did not ask for an apology or for Lima-Taub, who is Jewish, to be disciplined. The Florida chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations is calling for an apology and the commissioner to resign.
"Holding a public office comes with great responsibilities. Xenophobic stereotypes shall not be embraced by any elected official," communications director Wilfredo Ruiz wrote in a statement. "Her un-American, xenophobic statements establish that she is unfit to hold the Commissioner’s seat."
In a phone interview with NBC 6 on Tuesday, Lima-Taub said she was standing by her words.
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"I urge anyone that was offended by it, especially some of the self-righteous colleagues that I have, to research and Google BDS, Google Hamas, Google Hezbollah, Look up CAIR and look up Rashida Tlaib’s affiliations with these groups," Lima-Taub said.
Tlaib has been a lightning rod for conservatives after the Democrat made a comment the night of her inauguration in which she said she would help the party "impeach the motherf---er" in referring to President Donald Trump.
Lima-Taub was in the spotlight earlier this year for a heated argument with former Hallandale Beach Mayor Keith London involving her family’s business – with London later apologizing for comments about "sphincter bleaching” directed toward Lima-Taub.
