US Democrats and an Islamic civil rights group have called for the resignation of a Republican congressman after he suggested he would choose dogs over Muslims.
Representative Randy Fine wrote on X: "If they force us to choose, the choice between dogs and Muslims is not a difficult one".
His comment appears to be a response to a post by Nerdeen Kiswani, the co-founder of the pro-Palestinian group, Within Our Lifetime, in which she called dogs "unclean" and said "NYC is coming to Islam".
In a follow-up post, Mr Fine said: "We will not be shamed into being conquered like the Europeans. I choose my dog."
But his comments have sparked a backlash. The Council on American-Islamic Relations called on Republican and Democratic congressional leaders to condemn them and his resignation was "long overdue".
California's Democrat governor Gavin Newsom also called on him to resign, calling him a "racist slob".
But Mr Fine appeared to double down on his comments, replying to multiple critical tweets with images of dogs on a bright yellow background over the words "Don't Tread On Me".
Ms Kiswani later told NBC News, Sky News' US sister company, in an email that she had made her comment satirically.
Mr Fine has a history of making inflammatory comments.
Last week, he called for the denaturalisation and deportation of New York's Muslim mayor Zohran Mamdani - labelling him "Jihadi Mamdani".
Days later, he tweeted saying that: "Palestinian is a synonym for evil".
The Republican congressman, who took office less than a year ago, is an ardent supporter of Israel who has repeatedly defended the country's conduct during its war with Hamas in Gaza.
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He has also faced criticism, including from the then Republican congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, for posting on X last year that until Hamas released Israeli hostages, Gazans should "starve away."
Mr Fine's office was not immediately available for comment.
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