Since 2019, when Democrat U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan was elected to the House of Representatives, she was targeted by numerous rumors about her faith and Palestinian-American identity.
For example, a rumor misrepresented her advocacy for Palestine, falsely claiming that she made a speech publicly calling for supporters of the Palestinian militant group Hamas to mobilize and take over America. In fact, Tlaib, in an August 2025 speech, had called for members of the public who opposed the acts of the Israeli military in Gaza to "mobilize" and described those acts as a genocide.
Other false rumors claimed Tlaib said, "We will bring Jihad to America," and co-sponsored legislation to recognize Muslim holidays as federal holidays. One false claim accused her of saying the Holocaust gave her a "warm feeling."
Several claims about Tlaib included fellow Democratic representatives like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Rep. Ilhan Omar, collectively known as "The Squad." As a group of younger, female, non-white, progressive members of Congress, they have been frequent subjects of disinformation campaigns.
Over the years we've investigated many such claims. A comprehensive list can be found below.
