Florida politician lashes Ireland as ‘anti-Semitic country’ in row with governor over football game visit

A Florida politician has castigated the state’s governor, former Republican presidential nominee Ron DeSantis, for his recent visit to Ireland, which he has labelled as “an anti-Semitic country that supports Muslim terror”.
Randy Fine, the only Jewish Republican in the Florida legislature, took issue with Mr DeSantis’s presence at the American college football game between Florida State University and Georgia Tech at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin last weekend.
“I was certainly disappointed to see not only folks go to what is clearly an anti-Semitic country that supports Muslim terror, but I was also disappointed that the game wasn’t cancelled, which it should have been,” Mr Fine said in comments first reported in the USA Today network in Florida.
Invited to elaborate by The Irish Times, Mr Fine replied by email: “The country believes Muslim terrorists whose stated goal is to kill Jews should have a state. That would be the textbook definition of anti-Semitism.”
“All I will say to that is I think just about every lobbyist in Tallahassee made that trip,” said Mr DeSantis, in his only public response to his fellow Republican of the criticism of his trip to Ireland. “So is Rep Fine going to stop taking the money from all the lobbyists like he’s been doing? I’d like to see his answer to that.”
Mr Fine has been involved in a heated exchange with Mr DeSantis since his return from Ireland. The state politician’s position on the countries that have voiced support for Palestine has been unequivocal for some time. In May, he warned of his intention to restrict access to Florida’s business opportunities after Ireland recognised Palestine as a country.
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“In Florida, if you support Muslim terror, you will be treated like a Muslim terrorist. Next session, I will introduce legislation that adds any country that recognises ‘Palestine’ to Florida’s list of scrutinised countries, with severe limitations on entities from those countries doing business with and in Florida,” he said.
“Spain, Ireland and Norway will join Iran, North Korea, Cuba and Syria, among others, on that list. Govern yourselves accordingly.”
When it was put to Mr Fine by The Irish Times that Irish people would regard the Government’s stance as much more nuanced than he has asserted, he replied: “They would be wrong.”
Mr Fine’s row with the governor of Florida broadened this week after he called for an investigation into the necessity of support staff after highlighting social media criticisms made against him by three members of Mr DeSantis’s staff.