Two Republican lawmakers are drawing sharp criticism after calling for sweeping measures targeting Muslims in the United States in the wake of a mass shooting at a Hanukkah celebration in Australia over the weekend—rhetoric that civil rights advocates say reflects an increasingly open strain of Islamophobia within the party.
Rep. Randy Fine (R-Florida) wrote on social media Monday that the U.S. should impose a “Muslim travel ban,” carry out broad deportations of Muslims—including both legal and undocumented immigrants—and pursue citizenship revocations “wherever possible.”
“Mainstream Muslims have declared war on us,” Fine wrote, adding, “The least we can do is kick them the hell out of America.”
Fine’s post echoed comments from Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Alabama), who wrote on X on Sunday: “Islam is not a religion. It’s a cult,” and argued that “Islamists aren’t here to assimilate,” concluding, “We’ve got to SEND THEM HOME NOW or we’ll become the United Caliphate of America.”
Fine linked his remarks to the Australian shooting, which he said left 15 people dead. Authorities have accused a Muslim father and son of carrying out the attack. He also wrote that the violence should be viewed as evidence that Islam is “not compatible with the West.”
Muslim organizations and Arab governments condemned the attack and expressed solidarity with Australia’s Jewish community. One of the alleged shooters, the article notes, was tackled and stopped by a Muslim bystander.
The backlash to Fine and Tuberville was swift, but the comments fit into a broader pattern: other Republicans have made similar claims for months, describing Islam as incompatible with American values and arguing that Muslims should be barred or removed from the country.
Rep. Brandon Gill (R-Texas) wrote on X in November that Islam is “incompatible with our culture and our governing system,” adding that “not all cultures are morally equal.” He described the immigration system as “suicidal” for allowing Muslims to immigrate. The House Freedom Caucus’s account publicly endorsed Gill’s remarks, posting “True.”
Fine has posted anti-Muslim commentary repeatedly in the past. After Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minnesota), a Somali American Muslim, criticized the Trump administration for welcoming Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Washington in July, Fine responded by suggesting Omar sympathized with “Muslim terrorists.”
President Donald Trump campaigned in 2015 on barring Muslims from entering the United States and, after taking office in 2017, implemented a travel ban covering seven Muslim-majority countries: Syria, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. The article says he implemented another travel ban after taking office in January, though it included some non-Muslim-majority countries such as Laos and Cuba.
Trump also targeted Somali immigrants this year, calling Omar “garbage” and saying Somali Americans “contribute nothing,” remarks the article ties to his reaction to a fraud scandal in Minneapolis involving dozens of Somali Americans.
Tuberville and Fine also introduced legislation this year aimed at banning sharia law in the United States.
Sharia is an Islamic code of conduct practiced by many Muslims. No federal court recognizes sharia as an alternative to federal law. The article notes that a federal court struck down a 2010 Oklahoma constitutional amendment banning sharia, finding it violated the right to free religious practice.
Edward Ahmed Mitchell, deputy director at the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said his organization has seen a significant increase in anti-Muslim rhetoric over the past year, promoted by conspiracy theorists, politicians and social media influencers. Mitchell warned that such rhetoric can contribute to violence, comparing the current moment to the post-9/11 spike in Islamophobia.
Mitchell pointed to the 2023 killing of Wadea Alfayoumi, a 6-year-old Palestinian American who was stabbed to death in Illinois shortly after the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel. Joseph Czuba, the man convicted of the murder, was sentenced to 53 years in prison this year, and the article says he died three months later.
Mitchell attributed part of the renewed anti-Muslim surge to American Muslim activism protesting Israel’s military offensive in Gaza, saying conspiracy theories about Muslims plotting to take over the U.S. or impose sharia have resurfaced widely.
Democrats condemned Tuberville and Fine’s remarks. Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-New York) wrote on X that Tuberville’s post was an “outrageous” and “disgusting display of islamophobia” that was “beneath a United States Senator.”
After Fine’s earlier comments about Omar, House Democratic leaders issued a joint statement calling his remarks “unhinged,” racist and Islamophobic, urging an immediate apology. Fine declined and labeled Democrats the “Hamas Caucus” on social media.
Republican leadership has been more cautious. Asked about Fine’s comments Monday, a spokesperson for House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) pointed instead to Johnson’s broader condemnation of the antisemitic violence in Australia.
“We see evil all around us,” Johnson said Monday as he entered the House chamber. “We have to appeal to our better angels… we’ve got to amplify those voices and those sentiments.”
Johnson’s office did not respond to follow-up questions specifically about Fine and Gill’s rhetoric. The article also notes that a spokesperson for Thune did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
CAIR has urged Congress to formally censure members over attacks on Muslims, but no recent censure resolution or disciplinary action has advanced in response to Islamophobic remarks.
Mitchell said he believes both parties have failed to consistently sanction anti-Muslim rhetoric, arguing there is a double standard. He cited the bipartisan House censure of Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Michigan), a Muslim Palestinian American, over comments she made after the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel.
“If anyone had called for the destruction of all mainstream Jews or mainstream Christians, they would rightfully be not only condemned but probably expelled from Congress,” Mitchell said.
Both Fine and Tuberville have continued to defend their statements. Asked by The Washington Post about the criticism of Tuberville’s post, his office responded by repeating: “Islam is not a religion, it is a cult.”
After Schumer labeled Tuberville’s post Islamophobic, Fine replied on X by calling Schumer a “disgrace to the Jewish people.” Both Fine and Schumer are Jewish.
“Islamophobia isn’t real,” Fine wrote. “Fear of Islam is rational.”
