Megyn Kelly has joined the outcry against Florida Republican Rep. Randy Fine over his Islamophobic social media post, calling him a “pathetic sweaty man” who had gone “full bigot.”
Fine caused uproar on X (Twitter) Sunday when he responded to pro-Palestinian activist Nerdeen Kiswani – who had jokingly claimed that the amount of dog excrement in New York proved the animals are “unclean” and should not live in cities – by declaring: “If they force us to choose, the choice between dogs and Muslims is not a difficult one.”
In a second post, the congressman attempted to explain his remark by linking to Kiswani’s post with the comment: “For context, this is the leader of one of the key mainstream Muslim groups that supported [NYC Mayor Zohran] Mamdani.”
Fine, who goes by the nickname “The Hebrew Hammer,” subsequently attempted to firefight the controversy by posting meme variations on the “Don’t Tread on Me” flag, but was inundated with vitriol.
“Resign now, you racist slob,” wrote California Gov. Gavin Newsom, while New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez described Fine’s post as “genuinely one of the most disgusting statements I have ever seen issued by an American official.”
Arizona Rep. Yassamin Ansari also called for Fine’s resignation, as did the Council on American-Islamic Relations in a strongly-worded statement.
“Between his call for the destruction of all ‘mainstream Muslims,’ his claim that Palestinian identity itself is evil, and his call for the killing of everyone in Gaza, Randy Fine is a modern Klansman and Nazi all wrapped into one, only his targets are Muslims and Palestinians,” the council said.
As for Kelly, she initially responded to Fine’s original post with the comment, “wtf is this,” to which he replied by asking: “Figured it out yet?”
“What I figured out, you pathetic sweaty man, is when an idiot Muslim says ‘no dogs in NYC,’ instead of attacking the person or the policy, you went full bigot,” she fired back. “F*** off.”
The Independent reached out to the congressman’s office and to the White House for comment but received no response from either.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries has since issued a statement condemning Fine’s comments and pledging to hold him accountable if Democrats regain control of the House of Representatives in November.
“Randy Fine is a disgrace to the United States Congress,” Jeffries wrote. “He is an Islamophonbic, disgusting and unrepentant bigot.
“It is unacceptable that [House Speaker] Mike Johnson and House Republicans continue to remain silent. Their casual acceptance of hateful and divisive rhetoric enables this out-of-control behaviour. Republican leaders must hold this so-called Member of Congress accountable.
“Political violence, xenophobia and hate crimes against the Muslim community are on the rise. 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.”
Fine responded to that with another puppy meme, this time wearing a sombrero to mock Jeffries.
For her part, Kiswani, the founder of Within Our Lifetime, explained to NBC News that her original post had been “satire” based on a “hyperlocal NYC conversation” about dog excrement in New York after the recent snowstorm.
She said she was “satirizing Islamophobic hysteria portraying Mamdani’s mayoralty as a societal takeover.”
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