Rep. Randy Superb (R-Fla.) just lately added to his ever-growing listing of bigoted remarks — endorsing the hunger marketing campaign towards Palestinians in Gaza, falsely accusing a Muslim member of Congress of being a terrorist and doubling down on these beliefs to HuffPost this week.
The Florida Republican handled main on-line backlash final week for his response to a publish on X by Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) through which she labeled Israel’s ongoing support blockade to Gaza a “war crime” because it causes mass hunger within the war-torn Palestinian territory.
“The only way to end this genocide is with an arms embargo,” Tlaib wrote on Thursday. “Time for my colleagues to end their silence.”
Superb replied the next day with a string of inflammatory posts that falsely referred to as Tlaib — a Palestinian American who was born and raised in Michigan — a terrorist. His posts additionally included hashtags that endorsed ravenous individuals in Gaza, regardless of it being a violation of worldwide humanitarian regulation to make use of hunger as a weapon.
“Tell your fellow Muslim terrorists to release the hostages and surrender,” Superb wrote, referring to the remaining Israelis being held captive by Hamas. “Until then, #StarveAway.”
The subsequent publish learn, “Hey Muslim terrorists, cry harder. #StarveAway,” which was adopted by, “I love blocking Muslim terrorists. They clearly aren’t too hungry. #KeepOn Starving.”
Regardless of the posts overwhelmingly receiving destructive reactions, Superb didn’t retract his feedback. When HuffPost requested the lawmaker on Tuesday to make clear his accusation towards Tlaib, he responded, “I mean, look at what she believes. I believe if you support Muslim terror, you are a terrorist.”
When HuffPost’s Arthur Delaney requested what he was referring to, Superb laughed earlier than asking, “Do you need a list?”
“I think you just look in general, you know?” he continued. “So yeah, I don’t mince words, as you all will learn. I think you’ve got to call good good, and evil evil.”
Superb has made a wide range of offensive feedback on social media, principally earlier than he narrowly gained a particular election final month to symbolize Florida’s sixth District in Congress.
In an April 4, 2019, publish on Fb, Superb accused a progressive panel on Israel and Palestine of being antisemitic. When a Jewish panel organizer pushed again on Superb’s claims and famous that a lot of the panel was Jewish, the lawmaker dismissed them as “Judenrat” — a World Battle II-era time period used to explain a Nazi-installed Jewish council.
On Might 15, 2021, Superb referred to as Palestinians “animals” on social media and replied within the affirmative to a commenter who requested if it was OK to bomb a constructing with American reporters in it. The next month, he allegedly informed a Muslim Floridian on Messenger to blow themselves up and tweeted, “Thanks for the pic!” in response to a photograph of a Palestinian child reportedly killed by an Israeli airstrike.
Joe Raedle through Getty Photos
On Dec. 2, 2023, Superb tweeted that Israel ought to cease support vehicles from coming into Gaza, saying Palestinians ought to “eat rockets” as a substitute and together with the hashtag #BombsAway.
On Sept. 6, 2024, the lawmaker responded to Israel’s killing of American peace activist Aysenur Eygi within the West Financial institution with, “Throw rocks, get shot. One less #MuslimTerrorist. #FireAway.”
On Nov. 26 of final 12 months, Superb appeared to threaten Tlaib and Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) — the primary two Muslim ladies elected to the Home — calling himself the “Hebrew Hammer” and telling the lawmakers to “consider leaving before I get there.” On Jan. 2, he tweeted that he was in Jerusalem “talking about the need to solve America’s #MuslimProblem.”
At a March 29 Florida state Senate listening to — simply days earlier than his election to Congress — Superb informed an attendee sporting a keffiyeh to “enjoy your terrorist rag.” The lawmaker then threatened to “clear the room” after some objected to his remark, including, “I’m the chairman, I can say whatever I want.”
The Council on American-Islamic Relations mentioned Tuesday it has despatched letters to greater than 1,600 congressional staffers urging Home members to publicly condemn Superb’s bigoted rhetoric and maintain him accountable for his remarks.
“Randy Fine’s long and documented history of promoting bigotry and political violence is a danger to his colleagues, to American Muslims and Palestinians, and to the foundational principles of our democracy,” CAIR Authorities Affairs Division Director Robert McCaw mentioned in a press release. “Congress must take a stand against hate before it further poisons our national discourse or incites real-world violence and acts of terrorism.”
It was unclear whether or not Tlaib’s fellow Democrats have spoken up in her protection or condemned Superb’s feedback because the Friday posts. A spokesperson for Rep. Pete Aguilar (Calif.), who chairs the Home Democratic caucus, didn’t reply to HuffPost’s request for touch upon Wednesday.
Arthur Delaney contributed reporting.
