The only Jewish Republican in the Florida Legislature has endorsed Donald Trump instead of Governor Ron DeSantis, saying the former president has championed Jewish causes, but two experts told Newsweek the endorsement may not amount to much.
Representative Randy Fine, first elected in in 2016 and serving parts of Brevard County, wrote in a new op-ed published in the Washington Times that he cannot support DeSantis’ presidential bid due to his purported abdication in combating statewide antisemitism. He said the piece was written due to “our world changing forever” following the October 7 attack by militant organization Hamas against Israel.
DeSantis has taken flack this year for multiple incidents related to neo-Nazis, including a campaign video released in July that featured a far-right circular symbol known as the “sonnenrad” which is often affiliated with neo-Nazi groups. Such groups have drawn scrutiny for being openly brazen about their anti-Jewish sentiments, with one incident in September involving 40-some individuals waving swastikas, giving fascist salutes and chanting “Sieg Heil” on a bridge in Orlando, Florida.
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Earlier this month, Fine claimed he was “jumped” by Nazis in Florida. Reports indicate he had an “unsettling encounter” with one purported member of the Goyim Defense League—designated an antisemitic hate group by the Anti-Defamation League and the Southern Poverty Law Center—outside a speaking conference in Cocoa.
“Every piece of legislation you hear [DeSantis] talk about regarding Jewish issues is one I wrote,” Fine wrote. “I love his words. His actions have broken my heart.”
He said that a fund he helped start prior to DeSantis being elected governor to build a state Holocaust center has not broken ground after five years. He also claimed that DeSantis “has taken longer to commemorate the deaths of six million Jews than it took the Allies to stop the deaths of six million more.”
Fine also said DeSantis has declined to hold antisemitic protesters on college campuses accountable, passing the buck to university administrators.
He praised Trump for moving the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, adding that the current GOP front-runner for president in 2024 should have received a Nobel Prize for the signing of the Abraham Accords—an agreement reached between Israel, the United Arab Emirates and the United States to announce normalization between the Jewish state, the UAE and Bahrain.
“The past two weeks have made me realize our choice as Jews is simple,” Fine continued. “We can vote for the governor who says all the right things, or we can vote for the president who actually does them. When it comes to action, Donald Trump has never let us down.”
Fine told Newsweek via email that his op-ed speaks for itself.
He was also asked about Trump referring to Lebanese Islamist militant group Hezbollah as “very smart” following a recent missile strike.
“When I call someone a smart a**, that isn’t me calling them a good thing,” Fine said without elaborating.
Bryan Griffin, spokesman for the DeSantis campaign, told Newsweek via email that Fine’s endorsement “is nothing more than shameful political theater.”
“From working to move the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem, to combatting antisemitism throughout Florida and its schools, to securing funding for security at Jewish schools and synagogues, there’s never been a more pro-Israel governor,” Griffin said.
He added: “When Joe Biden stood idly by, Ron DeSantis sent planes to bring over 700 Americans home to safety and called the Florida Legislature back for a special session to levy sanctions against Iran and provide further protections to Jewish students and faith communities in Florida. When it comes to standing in defense of Israel, he’s always been a leader who acts and delivers.”
Adam Cayton, a government professor at the University of West Florida, told Newsweek via phone that likely a small percentage of Floridians know who Fine is, let alone would be impacted by his Trump endorsement.
The announcement could also be a politically strategic move on Fine’s part due to his running for reelection in 2024 and hitching his allegiance to a popular figure within the GOP.
“It’s more of an indicator of where the public is moving than something that will influence the public,” Cayton said.
It also shines renewed light on DeSantis and the campaign video and string of neo-Nazi appearances in public, including outside a children’s museum in June in Lakeland.
“With the recent attacks [in the Middle East], that’s going to make things seem worse because the threat of antisemitism will be viewed much closer to home and more urgent,” Cayton added.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.