House Democrats Move to Censure Florida Rep. Randy Fine for Racist Social Media Post

House Democrats are considering a forced vote to censure Florida Representative Randy Fine following his inflammatory social media statement: “If they force us to choose, the choice between dogs and Muslims is not a difficult one.”

“I usually hate censure resolutions against members, but I’ve never seen someone deserve one more,” Rep. Mark Pocan of Wisconsin stated in a public post.

Rep. Ro Khanna of California told the Congressional Progressive Caucus that Fine must be censured, emphasizing: “We cannot stand idly by as Muslim Americans are described as less than dogs by a sitting member.” Many colleagues share this concern.

During an appearance on a conservative news platform, Fine defended his remarks, asserting: “It’s not enough for Democrats to think anyone who wants to come here illegally should be able to do that. They also think they should be able to get whatever free stuff they want, and now, they’re demanding that we change our values and how we live as Americans.”

Fine’s post responded to Nerdeen Kiswani, co-founder of the pro-Palestinian group Within Our Lifetime, who described dogs as “unclean” and wrote that “NYC is coming to Islam.” Kiswani later clarified her comment was satire tied to a local debate about dog waste after a snowstorm and aimed at critiquing Islamophobic rhetoric portraying New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s leadership as a societal takeover.

Other Democrats have urged House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., to publicly rebuke Fine and remove him from committees. Rep. Greg Landsman of Ohio noted: “Ricky, or whatever his name is, just wants the attention. He says obscene, hateful things for attention.”

Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York has not publicly endorsed the censure motion but condemned Fine’s remarks: “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.”

Conservative commentator Megyn Kelly engaged with Fine on social media over the post, writing: “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. F off.”