First Draft: Randy Too Racist for Republicans?
GOP leaders have nothing to say about the biggest Islamophobe in Congress, at least one famous Republican can still admit slavery was bad, and Trump just deported a sick baby.
On this day in 2016, Pope Francis questioned Donald Trump's Christianity over his call to build a wall on the US-Mexico border. The late pontiff urged people to think about “building bridges” rather than walls – a message that sadly remains hyper-relevant today.
Good morning! Zeteo’s senior politics editor Andrew Perez here, wondering how the Republican Party has gotten so thoroughly, virulently racist that – as you’ll see below – war criminal George W. Bush can very occasionally sound like a voice of reason, when of course he should be in prison. What’s wrong with you, GOP?
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In today’s ‘First Draft,’ the MAGA Republican Party remains quiet about Rep. Randy Fine’s latest Islamophobic attacks, a horrendous president shows us how deep the GOP rot has gotten, and Trump officials deport a 2-month-old baby with bronchitis – because they are bad people.
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When Even Megyn Kelly Thinks You’re Too Islamophobic
Randy Fine, the most racist lawmaker in Congress, has finally uttered something disturbing and genocidal enough to attract widespread, bipartisan condemnation – though top Republican leaders remain conspicuously silent.
“If they force us to choose, the choice between dogs and Muslims is not a difficult one,” the MAGA freshman congressman tweeted over the weekend. While Fine has doubled and tripled down on social media, he appears to be feeling some heat – that is, if we are to read anything into his effort to try to lie his way out of this controversy on Newsmax.
“People should know Democrats like AOC are saying, ‘We are going to get rid of your dogs,’” Fine told the conservative news outlet – a blatant, egregious lie.
Fine’s post this weekend is only the latest instance of deranged Islamophobia from the Trump-endorsed congressman, who has urged the destruction of “Mainstream Muslims,” and has described Rep. Ilhan Omar, Rep. Rashida Tlaib, and now-New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani as “Muslim terrorists.” He’s called for Palestinians in Gaza to “starve away.”
This time, though, prominent public figures are finally calling him out. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D) issued a statement calling Fine “a disgrace to the United States Congress.” Jeffries said that “House Democrats will not let the racist and bigoted behavior of Randy Fine go unchecked,” and slammed GOP House Speaker Mike Johnson and Republicans for remaining silent about it.
California’s Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom, a weathervane if there ever was one, wrote to Fine, “Resign now, you racist slob.”
Fine’s comments were too much even for conservative media personality Megyn Kelly, an unrepentant Islamophobe herself, who responded to Fine: “wtf is this.” She later called him a “pathetic sweaty man” who had gone “full bigot” and told him to “fuck off.”
According to Axios, House Democrats could try to force a vote on a resolution to censure Fine.
As Jeffries noted, Johnson and Republican leaders in Congress have had absolutely nothing to say about Fine’s open bigotry – despite the House speaker having led pushes to censure Omar and Tlaib, the first two Muslim women elected to Congress, over… well, much, much less.
Johnson helped push through a resolution in 2023 to censure Tlaib for opposing Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza and for stating, in part, that the phrase “from the river to the sea” is “an aspirational call for freedom, human rights, and peaceful coexistence.”
The Republican speaker also backed an effort to censure Omar and strip her of her committee assignments, based on right-wingers’ flagrant distortion of comments that Omar made to Zeteo in the wake of Charlie Kirk’s assassination.
It’s a distant memory now, but during Donald Trump’s first term, Republican leaders chose to strip Iowa GOP Rep. Steve King of his committee assignments after he said, “White nationalist, white supremacist, Western civilization – how did that language become offensive?” He soon lost his seat to a Republican primary challenger.
In today’s fully MAGA Republican Party, House Republican leaders would likely have nothing to say about King’s comments. They tolerate a much worse, more vicious, almost genocidal level of bigotry from Randy Fine every day.
🗞️ What You Need to Know
Monsters: The Trump administration deported Juan Nicolás, a 2-month-old baby with bronchitis, and his family on Tuesday, a day after the baby was rushed from an ICE detention facility to the hospital. “To unnecessarily deport a sick baby and his entire family is heinous,” Rep. Joaquin Castro wrote as he announced the news.
Free speech: An immigration judge terminated the Trump administration’s removal proceedings against Palestinian Columbia protester Mohsen Mahdawi. While the administration can appeal or refile, the ruling is another blow to its crackdown on speech, following a similar ruling in Tufts student Rümeysa Öztürk’s case last week.
Next liar up: The Homeland Security Department’s chief spokesperson, Tricia McLaughlin, known for pathologically spewing lies to defend Trump’s violent immigration agents, is stepping down from her post. Her replacement, Lauren Bis, was previously tasked with producing tacky, unconvincing ICE propaganda videos.
Pure corruption: The Trump family has a financial interest in prediction apps Kalshi and Polymarket – Don Jr. has roles with both firms – so naturally the Trump administration is fighting to defend the prediction market from state regulators. Utah’s GOP governor, Spencer Cox, said he’ll use “every resource” he can to beat the admin in court.
Personality cult: The Trump family business applied for trademarks for Trump-branded airport names, shortly before Republican lawmakers in Florida voted to rename the Palm Beach International Airport after the president. Republicans voted down an amendment that would have blocked Trump from profiting off the airport name.
🧠 Pop Quiz!
Who was the last House member to have been censured?
Keep your eyes out for the answer below!
Even George W. Bush Gets It
It’s hard to find much good to say about George W. Bush’s presidency, and why even try? He lied the US into a war that claimed hundreds of thousands of innocent Iraqi lives. It brings me no joy to report that he’s now writing blog posts, and not from a cell in The Hague.
Yet, Bush’s Substack post on Monday was notable in the way it demonstrated just how morally depraved the MAGA-led Republican Party has become today. In his reflections on George Washington’s leadership, Bush made sure to mention (later on) the first US president’s greatest fault: He owned people.
“Worst of all, he was – as were so many of his generation – a lifelong slave owner who never publicly condemned the institution,” Bush wrote, adding that “slavery is a stain on an otherwise sterling private and public life.”
Trump now leads the Republican Party, and he’s made it a core mission of his second administration to erase this exact history from museums and parks. As part of its purge, Trump’s administration removed slavery exhibits from the President’s House in Philadelphia, the site where Washington lived and worked as president. Some of these exhibits told the stories of the people Washington and his family enslaved.
On Monday, a federal judge – a Bush appointee – ordered the Trump administration to restore the slavery exhibits at the President’s House. The judge wrote that the administration is “dismantling objective historical truths,” while noting that officials have “completely ignored their legislatively imposed duties.” The administration made clear they’ll appeal the decision.
So while Dubya was reflecting on this horrific stain on Washington’s legacy, Trump’s administration was hard at work trying to erase it – clarifying how much more racist, reactionary, and toxic Trump’s GOP is today than it was under even Bush, Cheney, and co.
🚨 Don’t Miss It!
Media reporter and scoop-getter Justin Baragona is back with his now-weekly column, ‘Ragebait!’ From CBS to Fox, Justin will bring you the latest from the media world, including his take on the right-wing media’s latest manufactured outrage, what mainstream media is ignoring or getting wrong, and much more. Make sure you’re signed up to get ‘Ragebait.’ It will hit your inbox later today!
Plus, Zeteo Contributor John Harwood is hosting a Substack live at 1pm ET (10am PT, 6pm GMT) with journalist Don Lemon to talk about how he’s been targeted by the Trump administration.
😳 WTF?!
MAHA’s RFK Jr. is back at it again! This time with Kid Rock. I can’t believe what I just watched, above, is real…
🌏 Anywhere But America
🇵🇸 Don’t forget Gaza: Palestinians in Gaza are marking the start of their third Ramadan amid a genocide. Meanwhile, the Vatican confirmed it would not join Trump’s ridiculously named ‘Board of Peace,’ saying “it should above all be the UN that manages these crisis situations.”
🇺🇦 Donbas non-starter: President Volodymyr Zelensky told Axios that the Ukrainian people would reject a peace deal that involves unilaterally handing the eastern Donbas region to Russia. The Donbas question has become a sticking point in peace talks, as Russia seeks full control over the region.
🇮🇷 Eyes on Iran: Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said that Iran and the US have reached a mutual understanding on the “guiding principles” of a nuclear agreement following the second round of talks in Geneva yesterday. What that actually means is unclear, and Araghchi cautioned that while progress was made, it doesn’t mean an agreement will be reached quickly, as Iran is expected to provide specific proposals to the US in the coming weeks.
🇵🇪 Another president ousted: Peru’s Congress voted yesterday to remove interim President José Jerí over allegations of corruption related to undisclosed meetings with Chinese executives. Jerí took office after Congress ousted his predecessor, Dina Boluarte, whose administration failed to tackle rising crime. Her predecessor was also ousted – surprise, surprise!
🌏 ‘Global criminal enterprise’: Allegations contained within the Epstein files suggest the one-time existence of a “global criminal enterprise” that carried out acts that may amount to crimes against humanity, experts on the United Nations Human Rights Council determined. The panel called for an investigation into the allegations revealed in the files, as well as inquiries to understand the prolonged nature of the crimes.
😬 Awkward Moment of the Week
“Would I?”
🧠 Trivia answer: Texas Rep. Al Green, who was censured for protesting Trump’s address to Congress in 2025.
ICYMI From Zeteo
Zeteo’s Melanie Riehl and Akshay Gokul contributed to this newsletter.
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Time to start contacting our elected folks and demanding action on Sweaty Fine’s abhorrent screeds. Today.
Andrew Pérez is a terrific and needed addition to Zeteo’s great content and editorial!