A Republican congressman has been slammed after claiming yesterday that Muslims “don’t belong” in the United States.
Tennessee Representative Andy Ogles made the remarks on social media before uploading a slew of follow-up posts about Muslim Americans.
“Muslims don’t belong in American society,” Ogles wrote on X. “Pluralism is a lie.”
In another X post uploaded later that day, he shared a list of countries with large Muslim populations and even took a swipe at the United Kingdom.
“There are 57 Islamic countries in the world (not counting the UK),” he wrote. “If muslims want to practice their law and exemplify Muhammadan culture, that is where they belong.”
His original post sparked a wave of condemnation from both sides of the aisle.
Republican Rep. Don Bacon told Axios that the Constitution was clear on matters of citizenship, citing Ogles’ post.
“The Constitution says there can be no religious litmus test for those holding public office or government jobs, and I think that applies to citizenship as well,” Bacon said.
Democratic Senator Patty Murray also cited the U.S. Constitution as she tore into Ogles’s post.
“We are a secular democracy,” she blasted on X. “If you don’t like the freedom of religion, you are welcome to move somewhere else.
“In America, you can be Christian, Muslim, Jewish, or anything else. It’s written into our Constitution,” her post continued. “Get lost with this garbage.”
House Minority Whip Katherine Clark was more blunt, describing Ogles’s remarks as “disgusting s***” in a post on X.
Rep Debbie Dingell also took to X to slam Ogles’ post, which she described as being “as unAmerican as it gets.”
On the same social media platform, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries branded the Republican as a “malignant clown.”
Ogles is a staunch supporter of President Trump and has previously proposed a constitutional amendment to enable the current commander-in-chief to serve a third term.
He also called for a federal investigation into Bad Bunny’s halftime show at the Super Bowl, which he described as “explicit and indecent.”
Responding to an Axios article about his March 9 post, he told his critics to “cry harder.”
“My comments wouldn’t even be a news story if I had said this about Christians,” Ogles wrote on X. “Please spare me your moral outrage. Cry harder.
“Christ is King.”
In another X post, he responded directly to Hakeem Jeffries and other critics.
“A Muslim shot and killed three Americans in Texas,” he wrote. “Two Muslims tried to blow up New York City…again.
“Meanwhile, all DHS counterterrorism programs are unfunded because you shut them down.”
Ogles’ series of posts comes less than a month after Florida Rep Randy Fine announced that he was proposing the so-called “Protecting Puppies from Sharia Act.”
If passed, Fine’s bill would cut off federal funding to states that consider the ownership of dogs to be “haram.”
In a social media post, he said that “the choice between dogs and Muslims is not a difficult one.”
California Governor Gavin Newsom and New York Rep Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez both responded on X, with the former branding Fine as a “racist slob” and the latter describing his remarks as “disgusting.”
The Independent has contacted CAIR for comment.
