New House Democrat appears to use expletive while calling for impeachment

Jan. 4, 2019 / 12:39 PM GMT / Updated 1:26 PM GMT

By Jane C. Timm

Hours after being sworn in, Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., appears to tell a cheering crowd of supporters that the Democrats “are gonna impeach the motherf—er” in a video posted online.

Tlaib, a Detroit native who Thursday became one of the first two Muslim women and the first Palestinian-American woman in Congress, is seen recalling her son’s response to her election.

“When your son looks at you and said ‘Mamma look you won, bullies don’t win,'” she appears to tell a cheering crowd. “And I said baby they don’t, because we’re gonna go in there and we’re gonna impeach the motherf—er.”

The exchange was captured on camera by an immigration activist, who also posted a group selfie with the new representative. NBC News has not verified the authenticity of the video, but has reached out to the representative and activist for comment.

Tlaib has called for President Donald Trump’s impeachment before: In an op-ed she co-authored on Thursday, she wrote that “the time for impeachment proceedings is now.”

Jan. 4, 201903:13

Tlaib is part of a new Democratic majority in the House of Representatives who was sworn in by Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., on Thursday afternoon. Pelosi told NBC earlier Thursday that impeachment proceedings will hinge on the outcome of the investigation into alleged Russian collusion with the Trump campaign.

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Trump addressed the calls for impeachment in a series of tweets Friday morning, asking how could he be removed after winning “perhaps the greatest election of all time” and claiming to have had the most successful first two years of any president.

As I have stated many times, if the Democrats take over the House or Senate, there will be disruption to the Financial Markets. We won the Senate, they won the House. Things will settle down. They only want to impeach me because they know they can’t win in 2020, too much success!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 4, 2019

How do you impeach a president who has won perhaps the greatest election of all time, done nothing wrong (no Collusion with Russia, it was the Dems that Colluded), had the most successful first two years of any president, and is the most popular Republican in party history 93%?

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 4, 2019

White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said impeachment efforts would not succeed, and were an effort to boost Democrats in 2020.

“Look, you’re not going to impeach this president when he’s had two of the most successful years in modern history that any president has had,” Sanders said.

The daughter of immigrants, Tlaib, served in the Michigan legislature and later as a legal advocate before her election. She’s a progressive Democrat, with a long list of endorsements from the left, including Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass.

After wearing a traditional Palestinian thobe for her swearing in ceremony on Thursday, Tlaib inspired women on social media to post photos of their own traditional garb with the hashtag #TweetYourThobe.