Republican lawmaker Andy Ogles drew criticism from colleagues last week after saying that Muslims “don't belong” in the US following an attempted New York City terrorist attack.
“Muslims don't belong in American society… Pluralism is a lie,” the Tennessee representative wrote on X/Twitter last Monday. Ogles, a longtime critic of Islam, previously called for a ban on Islam in the US, stating that “America and Islam are incompatible.”
Ogles criticized across the aisle
House Minority Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries immediately condemned Ogles’s comments, calling him a “malignant clown” and “pathological liar.”
“Disgusting Islamophobes like you do not belong in Congress or in civilized society,” Jeffries wrote in response, adding a promise to defeat the representative in November’s midterm elections. Other prominent Democrats, including House Minority Whip Rep. Katherine Clark and Rep. Eric Swalwell, also condemned the comments.
Notably, confidant of US President Donald Trump and Kennedy Center interim president Richard Grenell also condemned Ogles’s post, dubbing his statement an attack on the First Amendment right to freedom of religion.
Rather than backtracking, Ogles doubled down on his comments in a series of posts. In a response to Jeffries and other critics, he cited recent terrorist attacks reportedly motivated by Islam as a justification for his words, and said that Muslims should practice their religion in one of the “57 Islamic countries in the world.”
“I don't care about 'dangerous rhetoric,”' he further wrote, adding that “the threat is dangerous muslims.”
Ogles has previously made anti-Muslim statements
Ogles has a history of anti-Islam and anti-Muslim activism. In June 2025, he requested that the Department of Justice (DOJ) investigate then-Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani over his support for “terrorist organizations.”
At the time, Mamdani was facing criticism from opponents over his previous support for the Holy Land Five, the imprisoned leaders of an Islamic charity shuttered after it was found to have funneled millions of dollars to Hamas.
Additionally, earlier this month, Ogles announced his intentions to submit a bill banning travel from certain Muslim-majority countries.
“Mass immigration from the Islamic world, legal or illegal, has transformed America and brought destructive consequences. I am introducing legislation to BAN it,” he said in a post on X.
“America,” he continued, “is no place for a religion that endorses pedophilia, sex slavery, polygamy, abuse of women, and the murder of Christians.”
Ogles, a first-term congressman serving a district with a large Muslim population, is up for re-election in November.