Rep. Randy Fine, R-Fla., sparked a bipartisan backlash after posting anti-Muslim messages on social media site X.
“It’s not difficult to choose between dogs and Muslims if they force us to choose,” Fine posted on X on Sunday.
About 10 minutes later, Fine wrote a follow-up post to provide “context.” His second post included a screenshot of a post by Palestinian-American activist Nerdeen Kiswani.
“New York City is finally converting to Islam. Dogs definitely have a place in society, just not as indoor pets. Like we keep saying, they are unclean,” Kiswani posted last Thursday.
Although the Quran does not call dogs “unclean,” many Muslims avoid them based on the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad, believing that dog saliva is ritually unclean and requires washing after contact.
Kiswani later responded to the backlash to her post: “This is obviously a joke, I don’t care if you have a dog, all I care is if your dog pees everywhere and you don’t clean it up.”
Fine’s posts about Muslims sparked an outcry, with both liberals and conservatives calling for his resignation.
California Governor Gavin Newsom called on Fine to give up his House seat.
“Resign now you racist slob,” Newsom posted on X.
Megyn Kelly, a conservative podcaster and former Fox News host, expressed her disbelief in a three-word post on X: “What the f*ck is this.”
Rep. Yassamin Ansari (D-Ariz.) called on House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) to “condemn” Fine immediately.
Ansari posted on
“If Fine fails to meet the most basic standards of human decency, he should resign.”
Rep. Brendan Boyle condemned Fine’s anti-Muslim comments.
“Randy Fine is an ugly bigot,” Boyle wrote on X. “He should not be in Congress.”
Milo Yiannopoulos, a far-right political commentator and former editor of Breitbart News, blasted Fine as a “person of low moral character.”
Yiannopoulos wrote on X that Fine was “unfit for public office.”
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization in the United States, asked Republican and Democratic congressional leaders to “condemn and call for Fine’s resignation” because of his “racist remarks against Muslims and Palestinians.”
Fine has previously faced calls to resign over past comments describing violence against Muslims, urging their deportation and saying “mainstream Muslims” should be “destroyed”.
During a congressional hearing in December, Fine said he was “not afraid” of being called an Islamophobe.
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