Several Republican lawmakers are ramping up anti-Muslim comments and facing little to no response from their leadership.
“Muslims don’t belong in American society,” Rep. Andy Ogles posted on Monday. “Pluralism is a lie.”
The Tennessee Republican, whose seat is in a safe red district, has previously expressed support for banning immigration from Muslim-majority countries and said in a speech last year that “America is and must always be a Christian nation.”
The United States was not established as a Christian nation.
“He didn’t start this this week,” said Sabina Mohyuddin, executive director of the American Muslim Advisory Council in Tennessee. “This has been building up.”
Mohyuddin estimates Ogles has tens of thousands of Muslim constituents in his district.
“We know this kind of rhetoric leads to more bullying in school, discrimination in the workplace, hate crimes and vandalism against mosques,” Mohyuddin said. “But it is an election year and these politicians believe if they spew this hateful rhetoric, they are going to get more votes.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., was asked about Ogles’ rhetoric during a press conference at the House GOP’s annual retreat this week.
“Look, there’s a lot of energy in the country and a lot of popular sentiment that the demand to impose Sharia law in America is a serious problem — that’s what animates this,” Johnson said Tuesday, adding, “It is not about people as Muslims.”
Johnson’s comments echo a growing chorus among Republican lawmakers, who’ve been increasingly vocal about denouncing Sharia law and raising questions about Muslims immigrating to the U.S. and those already in the country. There are now 50 Republicans in the “Sharia-Free America” caucus.
Republicans have also spent more than $10 million on political TV ads that mention “Sharia” or “Islam” in a negative way, most of it in Texas ahead of its primaries, according to the ad-tracking firm AdImpact. That’s about 10 times what had been spent in each of the last four election cycles.
Sharia law — a religious framework — does not have standing over the U.S. Constitution.
“Because people don’t really know or have any idea what Sharia law is, it’s the boogeyman. You just throw the word out there and people get scared,” Mohyuddin said. “This is how we practice our religion. And last I heard, the Constitution still protects the freedom of religion.”
A handful of Congressional Republicans have denounced Ogles’ comments.
“I have many Muslim constituents, neighbors and friends who have contributed greatly to our community and country. Freedom of religion is a pillar of our nation and broad brush statements like this are offensive and completely inappropriate,” Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, R-N.Y., said in a statement to NPR.
But the majority of House Republicans have stayed silent, with some choosing to double down on the rhetoric.
“No more Muslims immigrating to America,” posted Rep. Brandon Gill, R-Texas on Thursday.
Rep. Randy Fine, R-Fla., who recently faced criticism for saying he’d choose dogs over Muslims, wrote: “We need more Islamophobia, not less. Fear of Islam is rational.”
Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., posted a photo of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks side-by-side with a photo of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who is Muslim. The caption read: “The enemy is inside the gates.”
These statements came in the wake of several attacks in the U.S., including a shooting at a Virginia college Thursday and an attempted attack on an anti-Muslim protest in New York held outside of Mayor Mamdani’s home. Authorities say the suspects in the attacks were either inspired by ISIS or had supported the group in the past.
A far cry from previous political eras
Johnson’s office did not respond to a request for comment about the additional anti-Muslim posts from his members.
The lack of response from GOP leadership stands in sharp contrast to the swift and decisive condemnation from Republican House leaders in 2019 in the wake of an interview by Rep. Steve King in which the Iowa Republican questioned why the terms “white supremacist” and “white nationalist” were considered offensive.
Liz Cheney — then the No. 3 House Republican — reacted by saying King “should find another line of work.”
“That language has no place in America,” added then-House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy.
House leadership stripped King of his committee assignments.
Gregg Nunziata, executive director of Society for the Rule of Law, said the shift in response to King seven years ago and to lawmakers this week highlights two different political eras.
“There’s this kind of new energy on the right that kind of delights in provoking and offending and refuses to apologize,” said Nunziata, who previously served as policy counsel to the Senate Republican Policy Committee and as policy advisor to then-Sen. Marco Rubio.
He draws a contrast between the leadership of former President George W. Bush, who in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks visited an Islamic Center and declared, “Islam is peace.”
“Those who feel like they can intimidate our fellow citizens to take out their anger don’t represent the best of America,” Bush said. “They represent the worst of humankind, and they should be ashamed of that kind of behavior.”
Paul J. Richards/AFP via Getty Images
Nunziata rejected Ogles’ assertion that “plurality is a lie.”
“I think the failure to condemn this is morally cowardly, but it’s also politically shortsighted,” he said. “The MAGA movement and the coalition that elected Donald Trump itself was pluralistic. Republicans had a good election year in part because they significantly expanded their support in minority communities and communities that have traditionally not been open to Republicans.”
Censure effort underway from Democrats
Democrats have blasted the tweets and the response from GOP leaders.
“Islamophobia is a cancer that must be eradicated from both the Congress and the Country. The shocking silence from Republican leadership is deafening,” said House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y.
“We already know that Randy Fine and Tommy Tuberville are vile bigots,” wrote Katherine Clarke, House Democratic whip. “But what’s even worse is the silence from GOP leadership.”
Rep. Shri Thanedar, D-Mich., has introduced a resolution to censure Ogles and remove him from the Homeland Security Committee. Thanedar has not yet said if he will force a vote on the measure and his office did not respond to a request for comment.
Rep. Yassamin Ansari, D-Ariz., the first Iranian American Democrat elected to Congress, posted on X that Fine’s comments “should have already resulted in censure.”
“I’ve asked before and I’m asking again: @SpeakerJohnson, will you reprimand Rep. Fine? Strip him of his committee assignments? Anything? Or does the Republican caucus condone racism?” she wrote.
