Latest news with #RandyFine
Daily Mail
19 hours ago
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Florida lawmaker makes xenophobic comment to Muslim mayoral candidate
A Florida congressman gave a xenophobic analysis of the New York City mayor's race. Rep. Randy Fine (R-Fla.) came out on Friday guns-blazing against Democratic New York State Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani. The lawmaker used the ongoing Israel-Iran conflict to compare Mamdani's potential future leadership style to that of Iran 's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and his predecessor. Mamdani, a rising star in New York City politics, is Muslim and a pro-Palestinian progressive. The Queens politician is running to be the next NYC mayor against incumbent Democratic Mayor Eric Adams, former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo as well as other lesser known candidates like the city's Comptroller Brad Lander and New York City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams. Fine faced backlash on X from those claiming his comments were anti-Muslim. 'You're right, everyone needs to submit to Christianity and accept Jesus Christ as their lord and savior,' one social media user sarcastically quipped. Another sarcastic commenter wrote: 'Agreed. We won't allow any Muslim run any office.' One said that Mamdani is such a flawless candidate that his critics are resorting to 'Islamaphobic retardness.' 'This is bigoted and wholly detached from reality,' wrote an X account on a more serious note. Another user suggested that Fine was in the pocket of the pro-Israel lobby and asked X's Artificial Intelligence Grok to detail contributions made to the Florida lawmaker's campaign from such groups. It revealed that Fine received a combined more than $400,000 from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC) and NORPAC. The comments from Fine come amid a rise in anti-Semitic sentiment in the U.S. with the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas terrorists operating as the de facto government in the Palestinian stronghold of Gaza. And now, Israel is also embroiled in exchanging missile attacks with Iran. On June 12, Israel launched its first barrage against Iran targeting nuclear facilities and military infrastructure and leaders to prevent Tehran from gaining nuclear weapon capabilities. President Donald Trump on Thursday gave himself two weeks to decide whether the U.S. would back Israel and also strike against Iran. Republican lawmakers are split over whether the U.S. should back its ally or stay out of the conflict – with some warning of mutually assured nuclear annihilation.
Daily Mail
20 hours ago
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Florida lawmaker sparks fury predicting surging Muslim candidate Zohran Mamdani will turn NYC into Tehran
A Florida congressman gave a xenophobic analysis of the New York City mayor's race. Rep. Randy Fine (R-Fla.) came out on Friday guns-blazing against Democratic New York State Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani. The lawmaker used the ongoing Israel-Iran conflict to compare Mamdani's potential future leadership style to that of Iran 's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and his predecessor. Mamdani, a rising star in New York City politics, is Muslim and a pro-Palestinian progressive. The Queens politician is running to be the next NYC mayor against incumbent Democratic Mayor Eric Adams, former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo as well as other lesser known candidates like the city's Comptroller Brad Lander and New York City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams. Fine claimed that if the Ugandan-born mayoral candidate wins he would run the largest U.S. city into the ground, and said he would act as a theocratic Muslim leader – like the Ayatollah. 'Zohran Mamdani would do to New York City what Khomeini and Khamenei did to Tehran,' he claimed in a post to X. He added: 'We cannot let radical Muslims turn America into a Shiite caliphate.' Social media users slammed Fine for his xenophobic remarks calling the Ugandan-born Muslim a 'radical' who would turn NYC into a 'Shiite caliphate' Fine faced backlash on X from those claiming his comments were anti-Muslim. 'You're right, everyone needs to submit to Christianity and accept Jesus Christ as their lord and savior,' one social media user sarcastically quipped. Another sarcastic commenter wrote: 'Agreed. We won't allow any Muslim run any office.' One said that Mamdani is such a flawless candidate that his critics are resorting to 'Islamaphobic retardness.' 'This is bigoted and wholly detached from reality,' wrote an X account on a more serious note. Another user suggested that Fine was in the pocket of the pro-Israel lobby and asked X's Artificial Intelligence Grok to detail contributions made to the Florida lawmaker's campaign from such groups. It revealed that Fine received a combined more than $400,000 from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC) and NORPAC. The comments from Fine come amid a rise in anti-Semitic sentiment in the U.S. with the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas terrorists operating as the de facto government in the Palestinian stronghold of Gaza. And now, Israel is also embroiled in exchanging missile attacks with Iran. On June 12, Israel launched its first barrage against Iran targeting nuclear facilities and military infrastructure and leaders to prevent Tehran from gaining nuclear weapon capabilities. President Donald Trump on Thursday gave himself two weeks to decide whether the U.S. would back Israel and also strike against Iran. Republican lawmakers are split over whether the U.S. should back its ally or stay out of the conflict – with some warning of mutually assured nuclear annihilation.
Middle East Eye
4 days ago
- Politics
- Middle East Eye
US lawmaker says nuking Gaza would harm Israel
Republican congressman Randy Fine has said using a nuclear bomb on Gaza would be 'a terrible idea' because radioactive fallout would reach Israel and kill Israeli hostages. Speaking to CNN on Monday, Fine, an ardent Zionist, defended previous comments in which he appeared to back the use of nuclear weapons against Palestinians. 'Nuking Gaza would be a terrible idea - the fallout would drift into Israel,' he said. 'It would kill the hostages.' When pressed about the risk of killing civilians, including women and children, Fine replied: 'War is a messy thing.' In May, Fine told Fox News that Israel should follow the model of World War II, when the United States used nuclear weapons to force Japan's unconditional surrender. He argued that negotiations with Palestinians were not viable. 'There is something deeply wrong with this culture and it needs to be defeated,' he said, repeating his belief that only overwhelming military force can bring an end to the conflict.
Days of Palestine
5 days ago
- Politics
- Days of Palestine
Rep. Randy Fine: Nuking Gaza 'Terrible Idea', Citing Risk to Israel, Not Civilian Casualties
DayofPal– Florida Republican Rep. Randy Fine defended controversial past remarks about using nuclear weapons on Gaza during a recent CNN interview. He said that while he no longer supports the idea, his concerns are based on the potential danger to Israel rather than the loss of Palestinian lives. 'We nuked the Japanese twice to get unconditional surrender. That needs to be the same here. There is something deeply wrong with this culture and it needs to be defeated,' Fine had previously stated, suggesting the U.S. should consider nuclear action against Gaza. When pressed by the CNN anchor on whether he truly believed the U.S. should use nuclear weapons on a civilian population due to his disdain for their culture, Fine replied, 'Of course not… Nuking Gaza would be a terrible idea. The fallout would drift into Israel. It would kill the hostages.' Asked if he was concerned about the deaths of Palestinian women and children, Fine responded, 'I think war is a messy thing… I believe the Palestinianism in Gaza is on the level of evil that we saw in Japan and we saw in Germany in World War II.' Fine, a vocal supporter of President Donald Trump, has drawn widespread criticism for past remarks, widely condemned as racist and dehumanizing toward Palestinians. In February, he pledged to recognize Israeli sovereignty over both Gaza and the West Bank if elected and vowed to expel native Palestinians from what he called 'the State of Israel.' In previous statements, Fine referred to Palestinians as 'monsters' and 'demons' who 'deserve no state, only death.' In 2021, reacting to a social media photo of a murdered Palestinian child, he commented, 'Quite well, actually! Thanks for the pic!' Shortlink for this post:
Yahoo
13-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Group Flags Florida Rep. Randy Fine for ‘Islamophobic' Remarks
A national Muslim organization said on Tuesday, June 10, that it had designated Florida Congressman Randy Fine as an "anti-Muslim extremist" and put him on its "Islamaphobia hate list." Fine, who represents part of Volusia County and all of Flagler County as part of District 6, has criticized the Council on American-Islamic Relations, which made the comments, in the past. The nonprofit, which has its headquarters in Washington, D.C. and refers to itself as "the nation's largest Muslim civil rights advocacy organization," said Fine has used "unceasingly violent rhetoric directed at Muslims and Palestinians." The group's announcement focused in part on Fine's recent comments to the News-Journal. The News-Journal asked him about his comments about Gaza on Fox News, which some interpreted to mean that he supported using nuclear weapons there. Fine said, "It shows the sophistication of the Muslim-terror media that they are able to convince people like you to interpret (it that way). ... Now I recognize that half of people in Gaza are married to their cousins, so you're going to find a lot of people with mental defects. But you've got to have a mental defect to interpret the comment that way." CAIR called the comments about Gazans "racist and dehumanizing." "For years, [Rep. Fine] has invoked Islamophobic and anti-Palestinian stereotypes and incited violence against Muslims and Palestinians at home and abroad with impunity," the organization said. The group has also called for Congress to censure Fine and condemn his "dangerously anti-Muslim, anti-American, and anti-Palestinian rhetoric." Fine posted on X on Wednesday: "Hamas front group CAIR, an unindicted co-conspirator in a federal terrorism trial, just honored me with a 'designation' as an anti-Muslim Terror 'Extremist.' I am profoundly honored to accept this award. Please send it to my Congressional office. We have a spot for it." Fine described CAIR to the News-Journal as a "terrorist front." He said its leader said that the attack on Israel on Oct. 7 made him "happy" and "brought him great joy when it happened. So being criticized by those terrorists is a badge of honor." According to a New York Times report, CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad did say at a gathering of American Muslims for Palestine that he was "happy to see" Palestinians break out of Gaza on Oct. 7, the day of the Hamas terrorist attack on Israel. That prompted the White House to distance itself from the group and a spokesman for President Joe Biden to "condemn" the comments, according to the article. Awad, in a statement, said that his comments were taken out of context by 'an anti-Muslim, anti-Palestinian hate website' to distort his meaning. He also said in his speech at the gathering that he denounced hate against Jews and called antisemitism 'a real evil' that 'has to be rejected and combated by all people.' In 2024, the Florida House adopted a resolution from Fine "to strongly encourage all executive agencies of the State of Florida, all law enforcement agencies, and all local governments in this state to suspend contact and outreach activities with the Council on American-Islamic Relations." Among other things, the resolution says "the Federal Bureau of Investigation has suspended all formal contacts with the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) due to evidence demonstrating a relationship between CAIR and Hamas." The Anti-Defamation League has also criticized CAIR, saying key its leaders "often traffic in openly antisemitic and anti-Zionist rhetoric." It also has accused Awad of once being involved in a now-defunct organization that openly supported Hamas functioned as its "propaganda apparatus," citing the U.S. government. CAIR said it is "not a front group for Hamas, a fund-raising arm for Hezbollah or part of a wider conspiracy overseen by the Muslim Brotherhood or any of the other false and misleading associations our detractors seek to smear us with." It says its "mission is to enhance understanding of Islam, protect civil rights, promote justice, and empower American Muslims." This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Muslim group calls Randy Fine an 'anti-Muslim' extremist
