Rep. Randy Fine commented on the “MAGA Civil War” taking place over the GOP’s approach toward Israel. He dismisses Tucker Carlson’s criticism of Netanyahu as “insane” and says he “rejects” the “small, growing, loud, and often young” faction of conservatives talking about these issues from the MAGA movement. “Do not say that I am minimizing the problem. I don’t want to end up where the Democrats are. And that’s where we will end up if we don’t do something about it,” Fine told CNN on Thursday morning.

REP. RANDY FINE (R-FL): It’s not systemic, but we are having a fight that the Democrats refused to have a few years ago when anti-Semitism crept into their party and they refused to do anything about it, and look what they have become. What we have is issues in our party. It’s a minority, but it’s a loud minority. And it is a growing minority. And the question people like me have to face — AUDIE CORNISH, CNN: Congressman, can I stop you here for a second. Because you have spoken so strongly on this. And, honestly, it sounds like you’re minimizing it when you say it this way. FINE: Oh, no. No, no. CORNISH: I mean, obviously, I understand what people have said about Democrats, especially in the light of the attack in Gaza on Israel. But this is so specific. These are the most high-profile voices on the right. FINE: No, I don’t want to minimize it because it is a big deal. And Tucker Carlson has a huge platform. He was the dominant conservative voice for many years. I’m not minimizing it. But, for example, I serve with 219 Republicans in the Florida house. Only two of them are anti- Semites. So, it is small, but it is growing. That is the threat, not what it is today, but what it could be if we don’t do something about it. So, do not say that I am minimizing the problem. I don’t want to end up where the Democrats are. And that’s where we will end up if we don’t do something about it. So, I am not minimizing the problem, I just don’t think it is the overwhelming majority. And that’s why the Heritage Foundation’s decision was such a big deal, because they’re one of the linchpins of the conservative movement. And for them to take the position that they did was so shocking it showed the advance of this horrible ideology. CORNISH: Yes. I think the other area where this has surfaced has been in the fallout, in the aftermath of the legacy of the death of Charlie Kirk. Instead of a kind of mass mourning, there has been widespread conspiracy mongering about Israel. I believe the — Benjamin Netanyahu had to answer to. Carlson is also a part of this. And yet we don’t hear national leaders like, say, a J.D. Vance, who has sat in Kirk’s chair, refuting this. FINE: Well, I think part of it is because the allegations are so insane. I mean, the notion that anyone other than this crazy guy killed Charlie Kirk is lunacy. But again, you make the point, there is this small, growing, loud and often young part of the MAGA movement that has decided to adopt this. Now, I reject that they’re part of MAGA because so many of the things, for example, Tucker Carlson is doing, he’s disagreeing with everything President Trump is doing these days. Whether it’s Venezuela or Russia or China, he’s saying President Trump is wrong on everything. But they are becoming louder. And if we want to end up like the Democrats, we won’t say anything. That’s why I’ve leaned into the fight, and I’m going to continue to do it. CORNISH: What do you make of the youth that have embraced this? When you heard Ben Shapiro talking about this online movement called the Groypers, these are people who are also showing up at Turning Point USA events. They are — in fact, one of them posed a question to the president. So, they are very much part of, when you say it’s small, it’s small, but it’s in the pipeline. FINE: Yes. No, and so I’ll tell you why. First, they’re impressionable. Second, much of the content that has been pushed on them through vehicles like TikTok, which is controlled by a foreign country, has made them anti-Semitic. I mean we have seen that in terms of the content and the algorithms that are out there. And then when widely respected conservative thought leaders like Tucker Carlson go insane, because that’s what he has become, people start to believe it. And that’s why it’s incumbent on people like me and my colleagues to stand up and speak out about it. This is a real problem, and the problem will get worse if we don’t stand up and fight back. CORNISH: Should the White House say something? FINE: Well, look, the president says things all the time. I mean American Jews have never had a greater friend than the president. And he says things all the time. And where he stands on these issues, it’s not in dispute. CORNISH: I only raise it because he’s actually dined with Fuentes, right? So, it’s not a random question. It’s very specific because this name has come up before. FINE: Yes, but the — sure. And, look, when that happened, the president didn’t know who he was and who he was eating with. Frankly, back at that time. I’ll tell you, I work on this issue every day, and I’d never heard of Nick Fuentes. I, unfortunately, have now. And so, this is a guy who’s profile has exploded as he’s embraced this hatred of Jews and American values. CORNISH: I have to ask one question. It’s a criticism that I hear from Democrats, which goes something like this. You know, someone like you, who has made comments that have been considered anti-Muslim, Islamophobic, against LGBTQ communities, they will say, bigotry begets bigotry. And that once you open the door to a certain kind of comment and rhetoric, others come in, like anti-Semitism. What’s your response to that? FINE: Well, I reject the premise of the question. I don’t make comments that are anti anyone. I make comments that are factual. And so, for example, on the Islamophobia comment, I’ve made statements which are true, that it is rational to fear Islam given the number of terrorist attacks that have happened. That’s not — that’s not racist rhetoric. Those are just factual statements. And the fact that I’ve said in the past that children should not have surgeries that mutilate their bodies does not mean that I’m LGBT negative. I mean, so I make statements of fact. And I think it’s important that I call out evil wherever I happen to see it. CORNISH: What we hear in the response from someone like Tucker Carlson, and actually I can play that for you as well, it has a similar kind of logic to it. Here — here is that one. TUCKER CARLSON, MEDIA PERSONALITY: What happens after Trump goes? And that’s what this is about. That’s why they’re investing the energy in this. That’s what the rage is about because they don’t want to lose control of foreign policy. I just can’t say that enough, it’s about foreign policy. CORNISH: I hear this all the time. He says that his issue with Israel is a factual, foreign policy, valid argument to make. Again, I’m raising this because of what you — you have just said, right? Is that — does that logic work here? FINE: No. And let me address the comment. The reason I speak out is not because of Israel. It’s because about the safety to American Jews. American Jews. Not Israeli Jews. American Jews who are facing anti- Semitic attacks in their own country. So, the notion that being worried about anti-Semitism only means you’re worried about Israel, it’s not only a lie, it feeds the underlying issue of anti-Semitism. The night after Mamdani was elected, people woke up to swastikas being spray painted on Jewish institutions in New York. If I’m upset about that, that has nothing to do with Israel. That has to do with what happens to Jewish Americans right here in our own country. CORNISH: What do you plan to do now? I mean how do you have this conversation going forward? FINE: Well, I appreciate the opportunity to speak about it here. We ended our relationship with Heritage. We’re working with many Jewish groups that have ended their relationship with Heritage. And, really, I have to do, is talk to my colleagues, because the biggest issue we have with Tucker Carlson is people remember the Tucker Carlson of five years ago. That’s what makes him so dangerous. He’s trading on a brand as the leader of conservative thought, when he was just a conservative guy, but not a lunatic. And so, it’s incumbent on me to make people understand, he’s not the same guy that you remember from being on Fox News. And I’ll continue to speak out to my colleagues, to conservative groups and to say to American Jews, you have a warrior that’s going to fight for you to make sure you’re safe in your own country.
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