Overview
- Days after posting that choosing between “dogs and Muslims” was “not a difficult” choice, Rep. Randy Fine announced a bill to withhold federal funds from governments that deem dogs “haram.”
- Fine said he would file the proposal on Friday and touted multiple Republican co-sponsors, including Reps. Chip Roy, Keith Self, Brandon Gill, Mary Miller, Eli Crane, Sherry Biggs and Andy Harris, with Sharia Free America Caucus leaders vowing to oppose any censure effort.
- Democrats and CAIR condemned Fine’s remark and urged censure or resignation, with leaders such as Hakeem Jeffries rebuking the post and some conservatives, including Megyn Kelly, also objecting.
- Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood rescinded his endorsement of Fine, citing harm to the local Muslim community and pointing to the congressman’s prior anti-Muslim statements.
- Fine doubled down in interviews, saying he reacted to activist Nerdeen Kiswani’s comments about dogs; Kiswani said her post was a joke about New York’s dog-waste debate, which Fine rejected.