On Saturday, July 18, 2026, the United States launched a new wave of airstrikes on Iran, escalating a war that was already under way. It was a dangerous, deadly moment. Two American service members had just been killed in Jordan, and more had been hospitalized.

How did Florida Congressman Randy Fine respond? He treated it like a football game.

"Bombs away"

In a post on X, Fine wrote: "I am heartbroken and overwhelmed with gratitude to the soldiers and their families who sacrificed to protect America from the threat of an Iranian nuclear weapon."

Then he added: "We must avenge them. May the gates of hell open to the evil in Iran. Bombs away."

Read that again. As families were learning their sons and daughters had died, and as the war escalated, a sitting member of Congress cheered "bombs away" like a kid playing a video game. That's not leadership. That's a man who is excited about war.

The strikes themselves were serious business. U.S. Central Command said the attack was meant to "swiftly punish" Iranian forces after Iranian attacks killed American service members in Jordan the night before. Two service members were killed; four more had been hospitalized and released, and CENTCOM said one was missing. This is exactly the kind of moment that calls for a cool head. Fine offered the opposite.

This isn't a one-time slip

If "bombs away" were a single bad post on a hard day, maybe you could write it off. But with Randy Fine, celebrating violence is a pattern — it's practically his brand.

• In January 2026, after federal agents in Minneapolis shot and killed Alex Pretti — a 37-year-old ICU nurse and U.S. citizen whom Minneapolis's police chief called a lawful gun owner with a permit to carry — Fine celebrated the killing. He posted: "The insurrectionist was put down. Well done."
• After a Turkish-American activist was shot and killed by Israeli forces at a protest in the West Bank, Fine tweeted: "Throw rocks, get shot. One less #MuslimTerrorist. #FireAway." When he later called Rep. Ilhan Omar a "Muslim terrorist," House Democratic leaders called his comments "bigoted and disgusting."
• In February 2026, he posted that "the choice between dogs and Muslims is not a difficult one." The post drew calls for him to be censured or to resign.
• He has said he is "not afraid" of being called Islamophobic, and called for "radical deportations of all mainstream Muslim legal and illegal immigrants, and citizenship revocations wherever possible."

So when Fine posts "may the gates of hell open," it fits everything else we already know about him. This is a congressman who reaches for the language of death and destruction again and again.

Who benefits when Fine beats the war drum

It's worth asking why Fine is such an eager cheerleader for military strikes in the Middle East. His donors give a pretty clear answer.

Fine's own report card showed his single biggest donor by a mile is the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) — $237,283, dwarfing every other contributor. That money buys a reliable voice for the most hawkish possible foreign policy. When Fine yells "bombs away," he's not speaking for the retirees in The Villages who worry about their grocery bills. He's speaking for the interests that fund him.

War isn't a slogan

Here's what "bombs away" actually means for real people. It means more American service members like the ones killed in Jordan put in harm's way. It means the risk of a wider war with no clear end. It means gas prices and costs at home going up if the Strait of Hormuz shuts down. The people who pay the price for a war are the soldiers who fight it and the families back home — not the politicians who tweet cheers from a safe office.

We should expect the people we send to Congress to treat war as the gravest decision a country can make. Randy Fine treats it as a chance to sound tough online. The people of Florida's 6th District deserve a representative who takes their lives — and the lives of American troops — seriously.

Source

This post is based on Raw Story's report on Randy Fine's "bombs away" post following the U.S. strikes on Iran.