Democratic lawmaker reveals friendship with 'Squad' Democrat is 'not an easy one'

Democratic presidential candidate Rep. Dean Phillips, D-Minn., told Newsweek in an interview that his friendship with "Squad" Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., was "not easy," but noted that it was important. 

"We are friends. It's an important friendship. It's not an easy one. I'm sure she would say the same thing," he told Newsweek in an interview. 

Phillips has been critical of the "Squad" after Hamas' Oct. 7 terrorist attack. 

He previously said that being a Democratic, Jewish member of Congress was "very difficult," during an interview with Bill Maher.

Rep. Dean Phillips told Newsweek that his friendship with Rep. Rashida Tlaib was "not easy." (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images | Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

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"And by the way, being a Jewish member of Congress in the Democratic caucus is very difficult right now, you can imagine," Phillips told Maher. "And there's a seemingly a lack of progressive love when it comes to our doorstep. And it's problematic. I know I don't look like someone whose community might need support or affection or protection… But let me tell you… it's a big deal."

Phillips also told Newsweek that the Israel-Hamas conflict was "very personal" for Tlaib, because "she has a grandmother who lives in the West Bank."

"She has Palestinian descent," Phillips said. "I am a Jewish man. I have great affection for the Israeli people and for Jewish history. And it's tragic what her community is facing right now, what the Jewish community is facing right now is horrifying."

The Democratic presidential candidate added that it was time to "join hands." 

Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., waits to vote on the House floor after the third failed vote to elect a new Speaker of the House in the Capitol on Friday, Oct. 20, 2023. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

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"What I've spoken with her about and so many others is it's time for us to join hands. You know, take hands, take arms in that sense of togetherness, before people take arms in the terrible sense, and that's something I want to work with her on," Phillips said. "It doesn't mean we see things the same way, doesn't mean that we hurt each other's feelings when we say things about what's very personal. But when we withdraw from those relationships, it's dangerous."

He said that anything was possible if there was reconciliation. 

"Japan is one of our dearest friends now, and we dropped nuclear bombs on them during World War II. But now we became friends again. Anything is possible if we reconcile. And the same will be [true], I believe, with Israelis and Palestinians. But it starts with people like Rashida Tlaib and me. Because if we can't do it, how can we expect nations to do it?" Phillips said.

Democratic presidential candidate Rep. Dean Phillips, D-Minn, during a campaign stop, Tuesday, Oct. 31, 2023, in Manchester, New Hampshire. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

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Fox News Digital reported in November that Tlaib is a member of a secret Facebook group where Hamas terrorists were glamorized after the Oct. 7 attacks against Israeli civilians. 

The Michigan Democrat is a member of the Palestinian American Congress group on Facebook. The group is hidden from non-members and does not appear on the platform's search engine, though Fox News Digital was able to gain access to it.

Fox News' Joe Schoffstall and Peter Hasson contributed to this report.