Did Congressman Randy Fine write on social media that "the choice between dogs and Muslims is not a difficult one"? Yes, that's true: These words appeared on his official account on X. That account is linked to his congressional page.
The statement appeared in a post (archived here) published on X on Feb. 15, 2026. It read:
If they force us to choose, the choice between dogs and Muslims is not a difficult one.
This is what the post looked like on X at the time of this writing:
(Image source: Lead Stories screenshot of post x.com/RepFine)
The account where the statement in question appeared was Congressman Randy Fine's official account on X (archived here), linked to his government page on the website of the U.S. House of Representatives (archived here).
In a follow-up post, he said (archived here) that he replied to a Feb. 12, 2026, statement (archived here) made on X by Nerdeen Kiswani, a pro-Palestinian activist.
(Image source: Lead Stories screenshot of post x.com/RepFine)
In subsequent posts published on Feb.12, 2026, here (archived here) and here (archived here), Kiswani said that her comment was "obviously a joke" and that her critics are "unaware of the current nyc discourse where we're collectively (jokingly) hating on dogs given all the visible dog shit in the unmelted snow".
Fine published his posts three days later.
Kiswani described the congressman's words as a "genocidal statement" (archived here).
On Feb. 16, 2026, California Gov. Gavin Newsom demanded (archived here) that Fine resign over the comments about Muslims and dogs.
Fine, in turn, published a dog picture (archived here) saying "Don't tread on me". In that post, he insisted that Kiswani's post was equivalent to the New York Muslim leadership "calling for the abolition of dogs," adding, "good luck bringing that to California."
As of this writing, the congressman posted five more dog pictures, replying to critics on Feb. 16, 2026. Those images portrayed different breeds on the same yellow backgrounds, repeating the "don't tread on me" line. That was an apparent reference to the Gadsden flag (archived here).
