Rep. Randy Fine (R-FL) is standing by his practice of calling American politicians, including New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, “terrorists,” arguing that rhetorical support for Hamas is functionally equivalent to violence.
Fine, one of four Jewish Republicans in the House, made the case in an interview with Breitbart Editor-in-Chief Alex Marlow at the 2026 Republican Jewish Coalition National Leadership Summit on Sunday. Marlow pressed Fine on whether labeling nonviolent political figures as terrorists mirrors the kind of rhetorical overreach he said he has experienced himself, noting he has been called a Nazi despite running a pro-Israel outlet.
Fine responded by pointing to Hamas’s leadership structure, arguing that the group’s top figures based in Qatar and Turkey do not personally carry out attacks yet are still widely accepted as terrorists.
“So you don’t have to be with the gun in your hand to be the terrorist. The people who support, rhetorically, the person sitting in Qatar and Turkey who runs Hamas — they’re just as bad. And so I think if you support, verbally, terrorism, it makes you a terrorist,” Fine said.
He added that Hamas leaders living comfortably abroad are still universally recognized as terrorists despite their distance from the violence: “No one has an issue calling them terrorists, but that’s exactly what they are.”
Marlow then asked whether Fine’s reasoning extends to American officials who are insufficiently critical of Hamas but do not themselves advocate violence against Americans, citing Mamdani and Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) as examples.
“Mamdani supports Hamas. Mamdani supports Hezbollah. Mamdani won’t condemn ‘globalize the intifada.’ Mamdani is clearly a terrorist,” Fine said. “There’s no question of that. Mamdani allows his city to be overrun with people who stab Jews walking down the street. Mamdani’s wife openly supported October 7th. I mean, what do you have to do to be a terrorist? He is one.”
Fine did not offer additional evidence beyond these claims during the exchange, which took place at the RJC summit and was published by Breitbart News.
