Congressman Randy Fine: U.S. Airstrikes in Syria Were Necessary After Two Soldiers Killed

By Newsmax Wires | Monday, 22 December 2025 09:07 AM EST

Rep. Randy Fine, a Florida Republican, stated on Monday that U.S. airstrikes in Syria were necessary after American forces were attacked and two soldiers were killed, providing a clear warning to Islamic State and other terror-linked actors operating in the region.

“These Muslim terrorists attacked our forces and killed a couple of our soldiers a few days ago. So responding was the right thing to do,” Fine told Newsmax’s “Wake Up America Early.” He praised President Donald Trump for “sending the message that we’re not going to put up with this in this part of the world or any part of the world.”

Fine described Syria’s environment as “complicated” as Washington seeks to build a working relationship with the country’s new leadership while conducting counterterror operations alongside Israel. He characterized Syria’s president as a “former, if you can ever be,” terrorist and stressed that U.S. efforts must ensure religious minorities and American interests are protected.

“While we’ve sort of said that they’re the president, and we’re going to try to work with them, we need them to understand that people who threaten Druze and Christians and Americans and Israelis, we’re not just going to put up with it,” Fine added. He emphasized that U.S. messaging to ISIS also applies to “the former al-Qaida terrorists that we have to deal with in Syria.”

On domestic matters, Fine backed a GOP healthcare bill that passed the House and is now heading to the Senate, calling it “not a complete fix” but one that would reduce costs for Americans. He criticized Democrats for resisting incremental changes and expressed “unfortunately not super optimism” about its Senate passage after comments from Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., regarding legislation meeting Democratic demands.

Fine also announced plans to expel Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., following her announcement in a fundraising email that she would seek his expulsion. “If I’m going to try to expel her, I won’t put it in a fundraising email,” he said. He further condemned what he described as “fake Somali refugees” who “add no value, suck our resources, defraud our government.”

On conservative unity, Fine identified antisemitism as a defining fault line within the movement, stating that some figures “masquerade as conservatives” while being rank antisemites and clarifying that “Tucker Carlson is not MAGA.”