A Republican running to fill a soon-to-be-vacant seat in the House of Representatives appeared to threaten the chamber’s only two Muslim women Tuesday, telling them they should “consider leaving before I get there.”
In a message to Reps. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) and Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), Florida state Sen. Randy Fine added the cryptic hashtag “#BombsAway.”
Fine is running to replace Rep. Mike Waltz (R-FL), who is set to step down in Florida’s 6th Congressional District to be President-elect Donald Trump’s national security adviser.
Trump has endorsed him in the race.
“The ‘Hebrew Hammer’ is coming,” Fine, who is Jewish, tweeted of his candidacy for the House, addressing the remarks at Tlaib and Omar, who he added, “might consider leaving before I get there. #BombsAway”
Tlaib, the only member of Congress of Palestinian descent, and Omar have been critical of Israel’s 13-month siege of Gaza, which followed the Oct. 7 attacks last year.
Both have repeatedly called for a ceasefire in the conflict and criticized the number of casualties.
Local officials said most recently that 44,000 have died in the Israel-Hamas war and, earlier this month, the United Nations estimated that roughly 70 percent of those who have been killed are women and children.
Fine is a staunch supporter of Israel and also has a history of making crass remarks about Muslims.
Earlier this year, he referred to “Muslim occupiers” when mentioning the Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem, praising Israelis who stormed the holy site.
He accused President Joe Biden of hiring “Muslim terrorists to work IN the White House” because he appointed a man of Palestinian descent, former diplomat and UN worker Maher Bitar, to work on intelligence policy.
Fine has repeatedly called Biden, who has transferred billions of dollars in military funding to Israel, “Jihad Joe.”
Last year, Fine said a person would be a “fool” not to fear American Muslims.
The Republican has recently run afoul of a court for his behavior.
In October, a Florida judge found him in contempt for making obscene gestures, including giving the middle finger and mouthing expletives during a virtual court hearing that took place in August.
He also wore a t-shirt for one of his past runs for office during the hearing, which was for a case in which a critic of Fine tried to have him removed from a GOP leadership race ballot. The case was later dismissed.
