Democratic politicians have found themselves indirectly defending Islam’s 7th-century hatred of man’s best friend, dogs.
Several Democrats have instinctively accused Rep. Randy Fine (R-FL) of racism after he reacted to a New York-based Muslim advocate, Nerdeen Kiswani — who said house pet dogs will not be welcome in a non-secular, Islamic New York.
“NYC is coming to Islam,” said a February 12 tweet from Kiswani, referring to the November electoral victory of Zohran Mamdani, the Ugandan-born, Indian-origin, immigrant, populist, and Muslim Mayor of New York. She added:
Dogs definitely have a place in society, just not as indoor pets. Like we [Muslims have] said all along, they are unclean [“najis”].
Kiswani responded to many critics: “Lmao at the Zionists frothing at the mouth at this, thinking they’re doing something. It’s obviously a joke I don’t care if you have a dog, I do care if your dog is shitting everywhere and you’re not cleaning it.”
Fine responded three days later, on February 15: “If they force us to choose, the choice between dogs and Muslims is not a difficult one.”
Many Democrats immediately accused Fine of racism and bigotry.
“We must call this what it is. Disgusting bigotry,” Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) reacted. “Fine must be censured.”
After thousands of users pointed out that Khanna was clearly missing the context of Fine’s post, he tried again: “Taking an alleged comment by one person and attributing it to everyone who shares that person’s faith is the definition of bigotry,” he stated.
Fine mocked Khanna’s wording of “an alleged comment,” as there was no disputing that Kiswani’s statement was publicly posted. “Perhaps you should have read it before spouting off like an idiot,” the Congressman quipped.
Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY) lamented that Fine’s “Islamophobic” comment is “incredibly damaging to Jews trying to combat antisemitism.”
“America is BETTER because of our Muslim community,” Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) wrote. “And we are WORSE when assholes like this guy spout hate.”
“This is genuinely one of the most disgusting statements I have ever seen issued by an American official,” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) vented. “Fine should be censured & stripped of committees.”
Fine’s November opponent, Jennifer Jenkins, responded, “I’m running to kick that bigot out of Washington.”
“This is what it looks like when Islamophobia and outrage are the only two items on your political agenda,” complained Rep. Bob Menendez (D-NJ).
“Resign now, you racist slob,” said California Gov. Gavin Newsom.
Media allies jumped in, as well. CNN’s Jake Tapper tweeted “Disgusting bigotry.” New York Times columnist David French curtly commented: “Absolutely evil.”
GOP Responses
Many Republicans do not want to defend Fine because they already dislike his campaign style or political choices and would rather focus public attention on an aggressive populist agenda by President Donald Trump.
“This is a drain-the-swamp presidency,” said Mark Mitchell, the polling director at Rasmussen Reports. Swing voters want to see solid results, and “anything that distracts from it at this point is not helpful,” he told Breitbart News.
However, many GOP-leaning activists who see Islam as expansionist, separatist, political, hostile, and violent are eager to endorse his comments.
Despite the left’s outrage, Rep. Fine is sticking to his guns, posting “Don’t Tread on Me” posters of cute puppies in response to his critics.
Fine appeared on Newsmax to defend his statement: “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. Now they’re demanding that we change our values and how we live as Americans.”
Muslim Attitudes
For Muslims, Fine’s tweets can readily be viewed as demoting all observant Muslims below dogs.
Kiswani, for example, declared that Fine’s comments are “genocidal.”
Egyptian-born Muslim journalist Mehdi Hassan also claimed Fine’s comment was “genocidal Rwandan rhetoric” and that “Muslims are lower than dogs.”
Islam’s founder, Mohammed (c570 to June 632, though newer research questions this character’s historicity altogether), declared household dogs to be vile and untouchable because they prevent prayer to Islam’s angels.
He reputedly declared that black dogs should be killed, and that dogs should only be kept for security reasons. The presence of pet dogs also reduces a Muslim’s worth in the eyes of Allah, say Islamic texts.
There does not appear to be any polling on how Muslims in America view dogs. But there is much video evidence of Muslims’ routine and loud hostility to dogs in the West.
Many people who are born into the Muslim system walk away from the demanding ideology. Some even publicly reject it, despite the orthodox penalty of death for quitting Islam.