GOP congressman says Muslims "don’t belong in American society” while his party shrugs
Republican Andy Ogles' open bigotry drew little pushback from fellow Republicans—and barely a ripple from Democrats
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In an act of unbridled right-wing bigotry yesterday, Congressman Andy Ogles of Tennessee said, unprompted, that Muslims “don’t belong in American society.”
Not religious extremists. Not people who advocate for “Sharia Law.” The entire religious group.
Ogles then added, “Pluralism is a lie.” Because who needs the pesky Constitution and its protection of religious freedom when you’re a conservative?
It raises an entirely separate question of where Ogles thinks the millions of Muslim-Americans ought to go if they’re not allowed in their own country.
The statements came just weeks after another Republican, Rep. Randy Fine of Florida, tweeted “the choice between dogs and Muslims is not a difficult one.” (That one was in response to another comment, but that context doesn’t negate any of his bigotry.)
Republicans are are done with dog whistles now. They just use airhorns all the time. And why not? Donald Trump is an open racist all the time and he faces no consequences for anything, so why bother holding back?
The big difference over the past several years is that, back then, even Republicans pretended like these kinds of comments were out of bounds. In 2019, then-Congressman Steve King of Iowa lost his committee assignments over his support for white supremacy and later lost his re-election bid.
But now? There are no calls from elected Republicans to seriously punish Fine or Ogles. They need them in the caucus because their House majority is razor-thin, so their strategy appears to be to deflect attention from the matter. And because Trump doesn’t care, and because Speaker Mike Johnson doesn’t care, nothing of note will happen to either member of Congress.
All we got were a handful of mild responses from some Democrats:
Several Democrats immediately criticized Ogles’s post as un-American. Rep. Judy Chu (D-California) called it “abhorrent,” and Sen. Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Delaware) called on Republicans to denounce the congressman from Tennessee.
“This disgusting s--- doesn’t belong in American society. And Republicans who support it don’t belong in Congress,” wrote House Minority Whip Katherine Clark (D-Massachusetts).
That last one was about as harsh as it got. What’s especially frustrating is that while those Democrats have called out the blatant hatred, there’s no organized pushback from the party—the sort of thing that would make this a national issue and force the media to keep the story front and center, making sure the American public realizes that the Republican Party stands for hate. If the party had a leader who was an expert communicator, that might be possible, but it sure as hell isn’t the case right now.
Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries issued a strong rebuke but even his words didn’t suggest any further consequences.
That’s largely infuriating because if a random left-wing blogger ever said something as despicable as “Christians don’t belong in American society,” every elected Democrat in the country would be held accountable for those words. Republicans would be calling for the impeachment of everyone from AOC to the ghost of Joe Biden.
And yet Democrats haven’t been able to make the simplest lay-ups on matters like this. Why not?! Ogles is the sort of Christian who raised around $25,000 for a “burial garden” for stillborn babies… and then appears to have run off with the money.
It shouldn’t be hard for Democrats to go after this guy, given that one of the most right-wing, extremist, conspiracy theorists in Trump’s orbit, Laura Loomer, praised Ogles while saying other Republicans “need to start saying this.”
The fact that Ogles’ comment has been met with a complete lack of consequences tells us something deeply disturbing about where the Republican Party now stands. This isn’t some religious disagreement. It’s the kind of extremist rhetoric that, historically, precedes discrimination, persecution, and violence. If a sitting member of Congress can say something like that while his party shrugs, the message is clear: Outright hatred is no longer disqualifying in Republican politics. It’s expected, especially if your district is ruby red. If you’re a Muslim-American watching this unfold, the message is also clear: the president’s party doesn’t consider you a real American.
This should be a bigger story. It should dominate press conferences, floor speeches, campaign ads, and cable news segments for days if not weeks. Every Republican in Congress—and every Republican running for Congress—should be forced to answer the same question over and over: Do you agree with Andy Ogles that Muslims don’t belong in American society? Instead, all we’re getting from Democrats are a handful of sharp tweets… allowing this story to fade away before it ever gains traction.
That might be the biggest tragedy here. While one major political party openly embraces religious bigotry, the other one still can’t figure out how to make them pay for it. Until that changes, people like Ogles will keep saying the quiet part out loud because there’s no reason to stay quiet.
The GQP is a party of racist, pedophile knuckledraggers and proud ignoramuses, so while still shocking it is unsurprising.
As a reminder to mr Ogles, the following statement is part of a law of the Unites States.
"As the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion; as it has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion, or tranquillity, of Mussulmen"