Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) was one of many who posted on social media that Israel had killed hundreds in an attack on a Gaza hospital. The New York Times has since admitted that its reporting “relied too heavily on claims by Hamas and did not make clear that those claims could not immediately be verified.”
Yet Tlaib’s post, which sparked a tense press conference with U.S. senators visiting Israel, remains live on X. “Israel just bombed the Baptist Hospital killing 500 Palestinians (doctors, children, patients) just like that,” she wrote.
Tagging U.S. President Joe Biden, the congresswoman added that “this is what happens when you refuse to facilitate a ceasefire and help de-escalate. Your war and destruction only approach has opened my eyes and many Palestinian Americans and Muslims Americans like me. We will remember where you stood.”
Biden has since said a U.S. investigation has shown that an errant explosive from Palestinian Islamic Jihad—and not Israeli fire—struck an area near the hospital. And the death toll is reportedly much less than Hamas had originally stated.
The Lawfare Project think tank submitted a complaint against Tlaib with the Office of Congressional Ethics.
“Despite the evidence exculpating Israel, Rep. Tlaib has not deleted the statement from her X account and has refused to apologize or correct the record,” wrote Brooke Goldstein, the think tank’s executive director. “Her actions and omissions amount to willful, intentional and continued spreading of false and demonstrably harmful information that deceives the general public.”
