Florida: US Congressman Randy Fine, on Monday, February 16, stirred controversy after he claimed that if he were ever forced to choose between dogs and Muslims, the choice “is not a difficult one.”
“If they force us to choose, the choice between dogs and Muslims is not a difficult one,” he wrote on X.
A former gambling industry executive, Fine’s remarks came in response to a New York-based Palestinian-American activist, Nardeen Kiswani’s comments on dogs as indoor pets.
On February 13, Kiswami said, “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.” She later clarified that the comment was a joke.
Fine linked Kiswani’s post to supporters of New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, saying, “For context, this is the leader of one of the key mainstream Muslim groups that supported Mamdani.”
Several users condemned his statement, calling it Islamophobic and dehumanising. Journalist Mehdi Hasan said, “We are now into full-on genocidal Rwandan rhetoric from a sitting Republican member of Congress. (That every Dem member of Congress and every liberal media outlet are not calling out this guy is a reminder that they should never be taken seriously on any kind of bigotry again.)”
A Republican and a Trump ally, he is known for making controversial comments against Muslims in the past. Following the Bondi Beach shooting in Australia in 2025, the Congressman had suggested that the US ban Muslims from entering the country and remove those already living there.
“This has to stop. Diversity is not our strength. Diversity has become suicidal. It is time for a Muslim travel ban, radical deportations of all mainstream Muslim legal and illegal immigrants, and citizenship revocations wherever possible. Mainstream Muslims have declared war on us. The least we can do is kick them the hell out of America,” Fine had said at the time of the attack.
Follow on Twitter | Posted by Khadija Irfan Rahim | 
