Rep. Randy Fine (R-FL) did not back down from his criticisms of Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), even when his House colleagues called his comments Islamophobic and racist.
Fine is a Jewish representative who replaced Mike Waltz upon Waltz’s initial appointment to become the White House national security adviser.
When Omar criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Fine responded with a post: “I’m sure it is difficult to see us welcome the killer of so many of your fellow Muslim terrorists.”
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) issued his own response to Fine, demanding that he “must apologize immediately.”
Fine refused and instead gave Jeffries a nickname.
“The Hamas Caucus is upset. Boo hoo,” Fine wrote, later adding, “Jihadi Jefferies and his Hamas Caucus are just trying to distract from the huge increase in violence against ICE agents because of their rhetoric.”
“Apparently @RepJeffries has no issues with @Ilhan calling Bibi Netanyahu a war criminal but does when I call her out for doing it,” Fine wrote in another post. “I came to Washington to fight this evil. Not make peace with it.”
Those responses prompted more condemnation from Democratic representatives, including Omar’s Minnesota colleague, Rep. Angie Craig (D-MN).
“@RepFine you should be ashamed of yourself,” Craig wrote. “This is the type of Islamophobic and inflammatory political rhetoric that we need less of in our nation. It’s dangerous, unacceptable and wrong.”
Meanwhile, fellow Democratic representatives from Minnesota remained reserved on the matter. Rep. Kelly Morrison (D-MN) simply retweeted Jeffries’s original statement, while Rep. Betty McCollum (D-MN) has not responded online.
Other Democratic members from across the nation piped in to call Fine out.
“Randy Fine’s vile, racist attack on Rep. Omar is beneath the dignity of the House,” Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY) wrote. “His remarks are an affront to the fundamental values of the American Jewish community, and do not reflect the basic standards of decency expected of any elected official.”
“This kind of bigotry is a cancer in our society and people of all political affiliations should stand up to speak clearly against it.”
“Islamophobia has no place in our country,” Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon (D-PA) wrote. “Rep. Randy Fine’s comments are vile, racist, and beneath an elected official who serves in the people’s house. This kind of bigotry should not be tolerated.”
Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) called on House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) to intervene.
“@SpeakerJohnson, what happened to that civility pledge you led and we all signed when we first came to Congress?” Jayapal wrote with a screenshot of Fine’s post. “The Republican members are out of control. Randy Fine needs to apologize to @Ilhan.”
Omar expressed gratitude for those coming to her defense. She echoed Jayapal in demanding change.
“Not only does normalizing this bigotry and violence endanger my life but all Muslims including in Fine’s own district,” Omar wrote. “This type of Islamophobic language demands accountability @SpeakerJohnson.”
Rep. Brandon Gill (R-TX) came to Fine’s defense, demanding that Jeffries speak out against the violence perpetrated against Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.
“Hakeem Jeffries virtue signals about civility, while simultaneously encouraging his party to spew the most vile, hateful rhetoric against our ICE agents,” Gill wrote. “Assaults against ICE agents are up 700%.”
“Jeffries himself even said that all ICE agents would be identified ‘no matter what it takes’ because ‘this is not the 1930s,’” Gill added. “That’s ‘unhinged’ rhetoric from a Minority Leader completely unfit for leadership. Hakeem Jeffries should be the one apologizing.”
Fine reposted Gill’s response and added, “@RepBrandonGill and I didn’t come to Congress to play their Washington games, where we have to make nice with people who hate everything about America.”
RANDY FINE BLASTS ILHAN OMAR AS ‘MUSLIM TERRORIST’ FOR CRITICISMS OF NETANYAHU
Netanyahu met President Donald Trump on Monday and Tuesday over Israel’s conflict with Hamas. Trump said his back-to-back White House invitation this week was an attempt to establish peace in Gaza, where a majority of the fighting has transpired.
According to Trump, Netanyahu “wants to get it solved,” just as Hamas does.
