WASHINGTON (TNND) — Florida GOP Rep. Randy Fine faced backlash over the weekend for a post on X where he implied dogs were preferable to Muslims.
“If they force us to choose, the choice between dogs and Muslims is not a difficult one,” Fine wrote on X Sunday evening.
He added context in a second post where he shared a screenshot of a tweet that reads, “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.”
Fine said that Nerdeen Kiswani, the writer of that tweet, was part of a Muslim group that supported New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
California Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna said Fine’s post was “disgusting bigotry.”
“We must call this what it is,” he wrote on X Monday. “Disgusting bigotry. Fine must be censured. It’s about morality and decency, not politics.”
Fine requested a debate in response.
“You really want to make common cause with those who want to ban Americans from having dogs?” he responded. “I look forward to the debate. Bring it.”
CNN anchor Jake Tapper quote-tweeted Fine’s post and just said, “Disgusting bigotry.”
Conservative commentator Megyn Kelly weighed in on Fine’s tweet and wrote, “wtf is this.”
Fine has been responding to people critical of his post with a picture of a dog saying “Don’t Tread On Me.”
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Fine represents the 6th Congressional District. He was elected in 2025 during a special election to fill former Rep. Mike Waltz’s seat.