CNN
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Top House Democratic leaders condemned GOP Rep. Randy Fine and demanded that he apologize after the Florida lawmaker suggested in a post on X that Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota is a terrorist.
Fine was replying to an X post from Omar on Tuesday, in which she said that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “should be held accountable for his crimes,” and, “war criminals should not be welcomed by any president or Congress,” after Netanyahu met with House Speaker Mike Johnson.
The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants last year for Netanyahu, Israel’s former defense minister, and a senior Hamas official, accusing them of war crimes during and after the October 7, 2023, attacks on Israel. The prime minister’s office has dismissed the warrants as antisemitic.
Fine wrote in response to Omar’s post, “I’m sure it is difficult to see us welcome the killer of so many of your fellow Muslim terrorists. The only shame is that you serve in Congress.”
Omar in a Wednesday post wrote, “Anti-Muslim bigotry should have no place in Congress.” Omar is one of only a handful of Muslim members of Congress.
In a joint statement, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, House Democratic Whip Katherine Clark, and House Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar called Fine’s comments “unhinged, racist and Islamophobic,” as well as “bigoted and disgusting,” and demanded he apologize.
“We are just weeks removed from heinous acts of political violence targeting elected officials in Minnesota for assassination. This is an incredibly difficult time for our nation and Members of Congress should be solving problems for the American people, not inciting violence. Randy Fine must apologize immediately,” they said.
Fine responded to the statement from House Democratic leadership with a post on X calling the House Democrats the “Hamas Caucus.”
“The Hamas Caucus is upset. Boo hoo. I guess they weren’t listening when I said the Hebrew Hammer was coming,” he said.
In a statement sent to CNN from the congressman’s office after publication of this story, Fine accused Democrats of “ad hominem attacks” and said Jeffries “has no issues with Ilhan Omar calling Bibi Netanyahu a war criminal but does when I call her out for doing it.”
This story has been updated with additional details.
