Florida Republican Representative Randy Fine is facing harsh criticism after publishing a bigoted tweet that draws a comparison between Muslim people and dogs.
Fine said he was reacting to an online post from Palestinian American activist Nerdeen Kiswani, who wrote that dogs belonged in society but not inside homes, calling them unclean. Kiswani later told NBC News the remark was satirical and part of a local New York debate about dog waste following a recent snowstorm.
But he nonetheless thought it was a good idea to tweet out the following:
"If they force us to choose, the choice between dogs and Muslims is not a difficult one."
You can see his post below.
Fine's post went viral and in remarks to NBC News, Kiswani accused Fine of having a “documented pattern of dehumanizing Palestinians and Muslims” and said that “there has been a troubling pattern in which anti Muslim and anti Palestinian rhetoric from elected officials has not been met with the level of accountability we would expect if almost any other community were discussed this way.”
Fine doubled down in remarks to Newsmax, saying that his post "was in response to a major Muslim leader saying dogs should be forbidden from New York City because to some Muslims, it bothers them." He said that if Muslims are "going to make us choose between our dogs and them going home, the choice is easy."
Fine was swiftly called out.
Fine, who took office less than a year ago in a special election, made a name for himself as a state politician in Florida for his regular bigoted takes.
Notably, he once claimed that the whole LGBTQ+ community should be "erased" if they continue to "target children."
At the time, Fine was trying to push through a bill that would penalize businesses that allow children to view "adult live performances." He drew attention to Pride organizers in his district who applied for a permit to hold a festival he discovered would include a "Drag Queen Story Hour."
Fine attempted to use his opponents' arguments against them by pretending to be shocked by the idea that the LGBTQ+ community was being associated with those who supposedly "target children" and insinuated that anyone who opposed his bill had ulterior motives.
He said that if advancing his legislation "means erasing a community because you have to target children, [then] damn right, we ought to do it."
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