Democrats howl over Randy Fine’s Muslim post

Democrats are calling for GOP Rep. Randy Fine of Florida to resign because of his comment about choosing dogs over Muslim people.

Mr. Fine said Sunday on social media: “If they force us to choose, the choice between dogs and Muslims is not a difficult one.”

In Islam, dogs are considered ritually impure and are therefore often forbidden from staying inside homes.

Mr. Fine said he would side with dogs in response to pro-Palestinian activist Nerdenn Kiswani musing online that the rise of Islam in New York City would push out dogs as indoor pets.

“Finally, NYC is coming to Islam. Dogs definitely have a place in society, just not as indoor pets. Like we’ve said all along, they are unclean,” wrote Ms. Kiswani, co-founder of the pro-Palestinian group Within Our Lifetime.

Mayor Zohan Mandani was recently sworn in as the city’s first Muslim mayor.

Mr. Fine’s post drew swift condemnation for being anti-Muslim.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, New York Democrat, called Mr. Fine a “disgrace” to Congress and an “Islamophobic, disgusting and unrepentant bigot.”

He called on House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana and other Republicans to hold Mr. Fine accountable.

“Political violence, xenophobia and hate crimes against the Muslim community are on the rise,” he said in a statement. “House Democrats will not let the racist and bigoted behavior of Randy Fine go unchecked. Accountability is coming to all of these sick extremists when the gavels change hands in November, if not sooner.”

In response, Mr. Fine posted a photo of a dog with a sombrero on a “Don’t Tread On Me” flag.

“He’s just jealous of our new dog, Hakeem,” he wrote.

Rep. Robert Garcia of California, the top Democrat on the House Oversight and Accountability committee, said Mr. Fine should be stripped of committee assignments and forced to resign.

Rep. Ro Khanna, California Democrat, called for Mr. Fine to be censured.

“It’s about morality and decency, not politics,” he wrote on X.

Mr. Fine has responded to Democrats’ various posts condemning him with the “Don’t Tread On Me” flag adorned with an image of a dog.

Ms. Kiswani also weighed in, saying, “No one told Randy to get rid of his dogs.”

She said he and “other rabid Zionists made this whole thing up about me ‘calling for banning dogs’ as an excuse to post genocidal rhetoric against Muslims. They routinely do this to Palestinians like myself.”

Ms. Kiswani told NBC News that her anti-dog post was satire.

Mr. Fine, who is Jewish and a member of the Sharia Free America Caucus, has previously been called anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian.

On social media over the weekend, he wrote that “Palestinian is a synonym for evil.”

He has also referred to Mr. Mamdani as “Jihadi Mamdani” and called for him to be denaturalized and deported.