President Biden’s State of the Union address is bringing into glaring view the deepening rift within the Democratic Party after several Democrats called out Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., for her planned response.
The president is expected to promote unity both at home and abroad Tuesday night as Russia continues its deadly invasion of Ukraine and U.S. inflation soars to record highs.An unintended focal point will be the contrast between moderate Democrats and progressives just nine months out from the midterm elections, after Tlaib ruffled the feathers of multiple fellow Democrats by announcing she’ll be giving a response to Biden’s historic speech.
Tlaib, a member of the so-called “Squad” of progressive Democratic lawmakers in Congress, announced last week that she will give her address on behalf of the left-wing Working Families Party.
“Democrats giving a response to democratic President SOTU…priceless,” Rep. Elaine Luria, D-Va., tweeted Monday, including a photo of a name tag that read, “Hello, my name is Captain Oblivious.”
“It’s like keying your own car and slashing your own tires,” Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., told Axios. “This only highlights the real tension between the socialist far left and the common-sense moderate wing, which is focused on crime, costs, tax cuts and affordability, and turning the page on COVID.”
