A number of Congress members in both parties are denouncing a Republican primary challenger in Florida who is attacking the GOP incumbent with antisemitic remarks and pro-Adolf Hitler messaging.
Rep. Randy Fine, who is running for reelection in Florida’s 6th Congressional District, reposted a campaign ad from his primary challenger, influencer Dan Bilzerian, to highlight the antisemitic messaging. The two-minute ad features an AI-generated woman singing about Fine’s Jewish traits and depicts him as “Satanic” and a “fat Jew.”
“It is unheard of to share an opponent’s television commercial. But I want you to watch it. Every second,” Fine wrote in a social media post. “Celebrating Hitler. Having horns grow out of the heads of Jews. Showing me violently assaulted. And if this appeals to you, I don’t want your vote. We have a choice on Tuesday, to embrace the kind of Nazism that led to the Holocaust or to repudiate this filth and reaffirm American values and character.”
The ad, which Bilzerian first posted online last week, quickly attracted criticism from Republicans in Congress, who called on lawmakers in both parties to denounce the antisemitic messaging.
“The vile attack ads against Congressman Randy Fine in Florida’s 6th District are disgusting and should be condemned by all political leaders on the Right and Left,” House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., wrote in a statement. “Antisemitism and outward hatred of Jewish communities have no place in our politics or in America, and we will continue to call them out wherever they arise.”
“This brazen Nazi — who’s urging us to ‘revisit’ the opinions of Hitler— revels in Jew hate & defends Sharia law,” Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said in a post on X. “This evil has no place in the Republican Party.”
Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, the top Democrat in the House, similarly decried the video, calling it “blatantly antisemitic” and that it “shocked the conscience.”
“People of goodwill regardless of political affiliation must reject his vile attacks on the Jewish community,” Jeffries wrote in a social media post. “This cannot and will not stand.”
The attacks even elicited an outcry from progressive Democrats in the House who have frequently clashed with Fine on other matters, particularly on foreign policy.
“We don’t agree with Randy Fine on much, if anything, and have condemned his racist, islamophobic statements,” a group of 15 Jewish Democrats said in a joint statement. “But the grotesque, antisemitic campaign video posted by Republican Daniel Bilzerian has no place in America. We unequivocally condemn Bilzerian and his hateful antisemitic attacks.”
Meanwhile, Bilzerian has continued his attacks against Fine on social media. The Republican challenger has openly campaigned on antisemitic messaging and has cited that as his top reason for wanting to oust Fine.
Florida’s 6th District is rated as a solid Republican seat, so whoever secures the GOP primary is poised to win in November.