US Democrat Ro Khanna faces backlash for TV appearance with anti-Muslim legislator

Middle East Eye

a day ago

US Congressman Ro Khanna is facing a deluge of criticism from activists for appearing on a news segment with an anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian lawmaker.
Khanna appeared alongside Republican Congressman Randy Fine in an interview on NewsNation on Thursday, where the politicians discussed the impact of US President Donald Trump's sprawling budget bill, which he and many of his supporters have referred to as the "big, beautiful bill".
The interview primarily centred around Medicaid cuts that will result in over 17 million Americans losing access to healthcare.
During the interview, Fine repeatedly claimed that "illegal migrants" were benefitting from Medicaid, whilst Khanna emphasised the false nature of those claims and his opposition to the bill.
At the end of the interview, Khanna said, "One of the reasons I'm proud is you can have a Democrat of Hindu faith standing side by side with a Republican of Jewish faith having a civil conversation on your show. And we need more of that in this country to bring this country together."
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For several years, Fine has faced criticism for his incendiary comments against Palestinians, his support for Israel's war on Gaza, as well as his advocacy for the withholding of humanitarian aid from Palestinians. More than 56,000 Palestinians have been killed as a result of the war, which several countries, as well as many international rights groups and experts, now qualify as an act of genocide.
This was nauseating to watch. How disgraceful for @RoKhanna to lend credibility to this deplorable Islamophobe who regularly spews some of the most disgusting racist bile against Arabs and Muslims.
You're talking about it like he's some tolerant religious man. 🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮 pic.twitter.com/DWaczCbWWm — B L A K E L E Y™℠©® LLC (@_iamblakeley) July 4, 2025
The Florida representative has called for called for Gaza to be destroyed, and in May, during an appearance on Fox News, advocated for the use of nuclear weapons on Gaza.
In November 2023, while serving as a Florida state representative, Fine voted against a resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza, claiming that those supporting it were "putting every Jewish child in the state at risk".
On 10 October 2023, Fine had the Israeli military mark an artillery shell with 'regards from Randy Fine'. The shell was set to be fired at Gaza.
In a statement issued on X on Friday, Khanna said that he didn't know about Fine's views and stopped short of apologising for sharing the screen with the Republican lawmaker.
Khanna later tweeted: "I reject categorically his views about Palestinians."
"I try to always be civil and did not know about his comments. [Chris] Cuomo booked us both. But I exposed the deep betrayal the cuts in Medicaid are for working-class Americans. We need to get the facts out in new mediums, where people who may not be for us will still hear," Khanna said.
In June, the Council on American Islamic Relations (Cair) designated Fine as an anti-Muslim extremist for his views on Islam and Palestinians.
In its statement issued at the time, Cair called on 'congressional leadership to condemn his actions, initiate formal censure, and remove him from all committee assignments'.
No congressional action has been taken to censure him.
Khanna, meanwhile, has previously faced sharp criticism for meeting with the anti-Muslim commentator Abhijeet Iyer-Mitra during his visit to India in 2023.
At the time, the Indian American Muslim Council said it was "deeply disappointed to see Khanna engaging with a far-right Islamophobe" and condemned him for embracing those who "enable [this] cycle of hate and violence against Muslims".