Democratic leaders on Wednesday condemned comments made by Rep. Randy Fine (R-Fla.) describing fellow lawmakers in Congress, including Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), as “terrorists” while mocking their Muslim faith.
“The unhinged, racist and Islamophobic comments made by Randy Fine about Rep. Ilhan Omar are bigoted and disgusting. We are just weeks removed from heinous acts of political violence targeting elected officials in Minnesota for assassination,” House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries (N.Y.), Minority Whip Katherine Clark (D-Mass.) and House Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar (Calif.) said in a Wednesday release.
“This is an incredibly difficult time for our nation and Members of Congress should be solving problems for the American people, not inciting violence. Randy Fine must apologize immediately,” they added.
On Tuesday, Fine slammed Omar for criticizing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s third visit to Washington this year.
“War criminals should not be welcomed by any president or Congress. He should be held accountable for his crimes, not platformed. Beyond shameful,” Omar wrote in a post on the social platform X.
Fine shot back moments later.
“I’m sure it is difficult to see us welcome the killer of so many of your fellow Muslim terrorists,” Fine wrote in a Wednesday post on X.
“The only shame is that you serve in Congress,” he added.
Three days prior, Fine commented “Muslim terrorists hang out together,” under a picture of Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Minn.) and New York City Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani, who are both Muslim.
Omar, Tlaib and Mamdani have faced scrutiny for supporting Palestine’s efforts to be recognized as a sovereign state while criticizing President Trump’s close-knit relationship with Netanyahu.
GOP lawmakers have called for both Mamdani and Omar to be deported and denaturalized following their remarks.
President Trump has also chimed in, threatening to remove elected officials who oppose his immigration policies.
“The President of the United States just threatened to have me arrested, stripped of my citizenship, put in a detention camp and deported. Not because I have broken any law but because I will refuse to let ICE terrorize our city,” Mamdani said in a statement on the matter, referring to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
“His statements don’t just represent an attack on our democracy, but an attempt to send a message to every New Yorker who refuses to hide in the shadows: if you speak up, they will come for you.”
