On Tuesday's State of Play show, MS NOW host Peter Alexander joined reporter Alex Tabet in seeing a "battle of the bigots" in the Republican primary for the seat of Florida Congressman Randy Fine.
Tabet first brought up the race for Democratic Congressman Jared Moskowitz's 25th district and innocuously noted the Democratic contest in spite of there being a Democratic Socialist candidate competing in the primary: "There are a number of very intriguing House races here in Florida, including the 25th district, where Democratic Socialist candidate Oliver Larkin is taking on incumbent Jared Moskowitz in the Democratic primary. That is the latest test for the DSA here."
Larkin's endorsements included some flagrant anti-Semites, including Linda Sarsour and Hasan Piker. Children's entertainer Ms. Rachel endorsed him, too, and she was nominated for "Anti-Semite of the Year." But MS NOW doesn't care about that.
But he then pivoted to the 5th district Republican primary and immediately put on a negative spin:
MS NOW Sees 'Battle of the Bigots' on GOP Side in Florida pic.twitter.com/OXwAsCfWhF
— Brad Wilmouth (@bradwilmouth) August 18, 2026
You've also got what people are calling the battle of the bigots and Republicans -- in the Republican 6th congressional district. That's where you've got incumbent Randy Fine, who is an open, open Islamophobe running against Dan Bilzerian, an Instagram influencer who is an open anti-Semite. That race is not expected to be particularly close, but it does represent the sort of dark underbelly of American politics right now.
After Tabet noted that Florida Republicans had redrawn the state's congressional districts to try to win more seats, Alexander went along with his "battle of the bigots" smear: "You see that old map and the new map and how much more red the new map appears right now. And I'm struck by you talking about the 'battle of the bigots.' That obviously gives you a sense of where we are in terms of this congressional season."
Transcript follows:
MS NOW's State of Play
August 18, 2026
11:03 a.m. Eastern
ALEX TABET: There are a number of very intriguing House races here in Florida, including the 25th district, where democratic socialist candidate Oliver Larkin is taking on incumbent Jared Moskowitz in the Democratic primary. That is the latest test for the DSA here.
You've also got what people are calling the battle of the bigots and Republicans -- in the Republican 6th congressional district. That's where you've got incumbent Randy Fine, who is an open, open Islamophobe running against Dan Bilzerian, an Instagram influencer who is an open anti-Semite. That race is not expected to be particularly close, but it does represent the sort of dark underbelly of American politics right now.
And then we've also been following a lot the 20th congressional district in Florida. I know we'll talk a little bit more about that later, but all of these races are made more complicated by this redistricting effort after the Calais decision, which redrew 21 of the 28 congressional districts here in Florida, and Republicans are hoping could flip up to five seats come November if this redistricting -- if this redistricting plan goes to (according to) plan for the Republicans. Peter?
PETER ALEXANDER: You see that old map and the new map and how much more red the new map appears right now. And I'm struck by you talking about the "battle of the bigots." That obviously gives you a sense of where we are in terms of this congressional season.
