Jason Chaffetz: Rashida Tlaib needs to take accountability for her comments on the Holocaust

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Jason Chaffetz on Rep. Tlaib's Holocaust comment, Sen. Graham's push to declassify Steele dossier

Former Republican Rep. Jason Chaffetz gives his take on the biggest news of the day coming out of Congress.

Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D, Mich., has drawn criticism for comments she made about the Holocaust last week, and former congressman Jason Chaffetz has joined a chorus of politicians condemning her statements.

During a discussion about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on Yahoo News' "Skullduggery" podcast released on Friday, Tlaib commented that thinking about the Holocaust gives her a "calming feeling." Chaffetz told "America's Newsroom" hosts that Tlaib's remarks were "antisemitic and anti-Jew," before calling on her to clarify her statements.

"She has to take account for her own words," Chaffetz said on Monday morning. "Millions of Jews were slaughtered and were killed and that gives her comfort?"

Tlaib went on to discuss the involvement of her Palestinian ancestors who were impacted by the Holocaust, while defending the one-state solution to resolve tensions between Palestinians and Israelites.

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"There's kind of a calming feeling I always tell folks when I think of the Holocaust, and the tragedy of the Holocaust, and the fact that it was my ancestors, Palestinians, who lost their land and some lost their lives, their livelihood, their human dignity, their existence in many ways, have been wiped out, and some people's passports," she said on the podcast.

Tlaib defended her statements in a tweet on Sunday and accused her detractors of politicizing her statements and mischaracterizing her words.

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Chaffetz slammed her comparison of the plight of Palestinians to that of Jewish people during the Holocaust and insinuated that she should not be able to serve on House committees. Tlaib currently resides on committees for Oversight and Reform and Financial Services.

"She can go to the floor of the House right now and clarify and she won't and she hasn't," Chaffetz said.

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"The good people of Michigan can send whoever they want to Congress, but once she gets there Nancy Pelosi and Steny Hoyer have a duty and obligation to make a decision on who serves on committees," he continued.

Tlaib, who represents districts in Detroit, drew ire just hours after being sworn in when she expressed her desire to impeach President Trump using explicit language.

"We're going to impeach this motherf---er," she said.