WASHINGTON — Rep. Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.) said Monday that Muslims shouldn’t be in the United States.
“Muslims don’t belong in American society,” Ogles wrote on social media. “Pluralism is a lie.”
The Republican member of Congress, a far-right conservative with a record of being brazenly Islamophobic, seemed to be reacting to New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s condemnation of an anti-Islam rally organized outside his home on Saturday by pardoned Jan. 6 insurrectionist Jake Lang.
Violence broke out at the protest, and on Monday, two men were in custody as law enforcement officials probed whether they brought explosives to the event. The men are also being investigated for potentially being inspired by an Islamic State extremist group.
Mamdani, who is Muslim, condemned “white supremacist Jake Lang” for organizing a rally rooted in “bigotry and racism.” He also called it “reprehensible” that people brought an explosive device, which did not go off at the event.
Ogles’ Monday post came minutes after he attacked Mamdani for condemning the Islamophobia on display at the rally outside his home.
“The @DOJ can deport him today. All they need to do is read his file,” the Tennessee Republican said of Mamdani.
The mayor, who was born in Uganda, has been a U.S. citizen since 2018.
Ogles’ office did not respond to a request for comment.
Neither did Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), nor any of his top lieutenants: Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.), Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.), Republican Conference Chair Lisa McClain (R-Mich.) and Republican Policy Committee Chair Kevin Hern (R-Okla.).
The offices of Sens. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) and Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.) also did not respond to requests for comment.
Ogles isn’t the only Republican in Congress comfortable with being openly Islamophobic.
Last month, Rep. Randy Fine (Fla.) declared on social media: “If they force us to choose, the choice between dogs and Muslims is not a difficult one.”
Rep. Lauren Boebert (Colo.) has made numerous baseless, bigoted remarks about Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) over the years, comparing her to a bomb-carrying terrorist and calling her a member of the “jihad squad.” Marjorie Taylor Greene, who recently resigned from Congress, previously suggested Muslims don’t belong in government. In 2025, Sen. Tommy Tuberville (Ala.) called for banning all immigrants who are Muslim.
Edward Ahmed Mitchell, national deputy director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, said the First Amendment guarantees religious freedom to everyone ― including American Muslims.
“If any member of Congress had declared that ‘Jews do not belong in America,’ that politician would rightfully face condemnation, censure and even possibly expulsion,” Mitchell said in a statement.
“Yet anti-Muslim extremists in Congress like Randy Fine and Andy Ogles have faced no consequences for their dangerous rhetoric, even as American Muslim members of Congress have faced censure motions, threats and harassment for daring to criticize Israel’s genocide in Gaza,” he said. “The double standards and hypocrisy must end.”
CAIR now designates Ogles as an “anti-Muslim extremist” on its website.
Igor Bobic contributed reporting.