Randy Fine, notorious Florida's Republican US Congressman, has made yet another inflammatory and anti-Muslim comment, with his latest remark likening dogs to Muslims and urging Americans to select the former "if they (Muslims) force us to choose."
Fine ignited widespread outrage and condemnation after posting, "If they force us to choose, the choice between dogs and Muslims is not a difficult one" — a comment particularly timed near Ramadan and targeting an entire faith group of nearly 2 billion Muslims globally.
Fine claimed the racist comment was a response to what was a joke by Nerdeen Kiswani, founder of the New York City-based Palestinian network Within Our Lifetime.
"Finally, NYC is coming to Islam. Dogs definitely have a place in society, just not as indoor pets," she wrote last week. "Like we’ve said all along, they are unclean."
"Lmao at the Zionists frothing at the mouth at this, thinking they're doing something. It's obviously a joke," Kiswani clarified later without mentioning Fine.
"I don't care if you have a dog, I do care if your dog is shitting everywhere and you're not cleaning it."
Another post from Kiswani clarified that it referenced individuals displeased by the amount of dog excrement left on piles of frozen snow throughout the city.
'Randy Fine is an ugly bigot'
Following the Republican’s comments about Muslims, California Governor Gavin Newsom called for the resignation of Fine, who is Jewish and has previously been criticised by Democrats, civil rights groups, and Jewish organisations for his anti-Muslim views and celebration of genocide in Gaza.
"Resign now, you racist slob," Newsom wrote on X.
Cameron Kasky, a Jewish activist, wrote on X in response to Fine's post: "Imagine if an American politician said this about Jews."
"Randy Fine is an ugly bigot. He should not be in Congress," said Representative Brendan Boyle, a Pennsylvania Democrat.
Representative Yassamin Ansari, an Arizona Democrat, said: "If anyone said something this vile in any workplace, they'd be fired. Randy Fine has repeatedly dehumanised Muslims without consequence. It's unacceptable and should not be normalised by Congress. @SpeakerJohnson should reprimand him immediately. And if Fine cannot meet the most basic standard of human dignity, he should resign."
The Council on American-Islamic Relations issued a statement on Monday demanding that congressional leaders call for Fine's resignation, describing his rhetoric, including this comment and prior ones, as racist, comparing him to a "modern Klansman and Nazi" targeting Muslims and Palestinians, and highlighting it as part of a pattern including calls for the destruction of "mainstream Muslims."
Celebrating genocide
In 2021, when a user on X asked Fine how he sleeps at night in a post that had the image of a dead Palestinian child pulled from rubble, the rabble-rousing politicians quipped, "Quite well, actually! Thanks for the pic!"
Fine has repeatedly lauded the deaths and suffering in Gaza genocide, remarking recently, "The Palestinian cause is an evil one.… We nuked the Japanese twice [in World War II]."
During a House committee hearing last year, Fine stated: "I don’t know how you make peace with those (Muslims) who seek your destruction, I think you destroy them first."
Fine has previously called for a "Muslim travel ban," "radical deportations of all mainstream Muslim legal and illegal immigrants," and "citizenship revocations wherever possible," claiming "Mainstream Muslims have declared war on us" and that they should be "kicked the hell out of America."
He has previously threatened Muslim Congresswomen like Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib, remarking "The Hebrew Hammer is coming" with "#BombsAway".
Fine, known for his hateful remarks, caused uproar after celebrating Israel’s killing of 26-year-old Turkish-American activist Aysenur Ezgi Eygi in the occupied West Bank, labelling Eygi a "Muslim terrorist."
