Donald Trump and Randy Fine pose together in 2024. (Courtesy Randy Fine) Courtesy of Randy Fine

(JTA) — Only a week after being sworn into Congress, Jewish Rep. Randy Fine directed his latest inflammatory statement at a Muslim colleague.

On a podcast Wednesday, the Florida Republican and self-proclaimed “Hebrew Hammer” called Michigan Rep. Rashida Tlaib a “terrorist” and said that some members of the progressive “Squad” — of which she is a member — “shouldn’t be Americans.”

“I think some of these people should not be in Congress. I think they’re a disgrace. I think some of them shouldn’t be Americans. I don’t think they love our country. And I’m not gonna be afraid to call them out and go right at them because I think they’re bad people,” Fine told podcast host Gabe Groisman, a former mayor of Bal Harbour, Florida, and board member of the Republican Jewish Coalition.

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

Fine continued, “And particularly people like Rashida Tlaib. She’s just a bad person. She’s not a terrorist sympathizer, she’s a terrorist. And I don’t mind saying it because it’s true.” He did not elaborate.

It’s not the first time the Trump-backed politician has used crude language against Tlaib — who is Palestinian-American and one of the House’s harshest critics of Israel — or against other Muslim politicians. When Fine first announced his run for Congress in November, he tweeted “#BombsAway” at Tlaib and Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar, a fellow Squad member and Israel critic, writing that both “might want to consider leaving before I get there.”

Fine’s remarks at the time were condemned by a range of groups. He refused to apologize, instead building more attacks at Muslims into his campaign — calling his Democratic opponent Josh Weil, a convert to Islam, “Jihad Josh.”

In the final stretch of Fine’s campaign for the April 1 special election, Republicans became concerned that he could lose his ruby-red district following a groundswell of fundraising for Weil and a national backlash to many Trump policies. Fine wound up winning his district, though by a considerably smaller margin than initially expected.

Fine’s remarks also came amid a broad deportation sweep from the Trump administration that has targeted international students who engaged in pro-Palestinian activism. That effort has come as ICE officers have arrested tens of thousands of people since Trump took office.

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. We’re in the middle of our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we have a very ambitious goal of $127,000 by April 21.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a Passover gift today!

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Make a Passover Gift Today!

$90 $180

$360

Other amount