As House Republicans gather this week at President Donald Trump’s golf resort in Doral, Florida, one member has ignited outrage with a racist and Islamophobic social media screed that’s drawing sharp condemnation.“Muslims don’t belong in American society,” declared U.S. Rep. Andy Ogles (R-TN). “Pluralism is a lie.” There are roughly four million Muslims in the United States, including about 40,000 in Ogles’ home state. U.S. Rep. Shri Thanedar (D-MI) responded, writing: “The founders put freedom of religion in the FIRST Amendment for a reason. Muslims have lived in America since the 1600s. E Pluribus Unum, an ode to our pluralism, has been our country’s traditional motto since 1782.”“Maybe it’s YOUR values that don’t belong in American society,” he concluded. The Independent’s D.C. Bureau Chief Eric Michael Garcia called it, “Blatant racism and islamophobia from a sitting member of Congress.”The Bulwark’s Joe Perticone observed, “It’s wild that the type of things Steve King had his committee assignments stripped for are now almost median House Republican views.”Politico’s Carla Marinucci called Congressman Ogles’ remark “Reprehensible.”HuffPost’s Arthur Delaney posted the text of the First Amendment.Writer Charlotte Clymer called for Ogles to be expelled from the House“Ultimately,” warned journalist and attorney John Teufel, “I do believe that either fascism is ascendant in the United States for decades, or there will have to be a civil war or some sort of Balkanization.”“I don’t think there’s a magic third option of resurgent liberal democracy. Not with elected leaders like this,” he observed.Calling his statement “hateful, disgraceful, and flatly un-American,” Seth Taylor, a former DNC delegate, slammed Congressman Ogles.“I’m telling you plainly: you do not get to decide which faiths belong in this country. That is not your job, and it is not your right,” he wrote as part of a lengthy statement. “Pluralism is not a lie. It is one of the core strengths of America. Religious liberty means all of us. It means Christians, Jews, Muslims, and people of every other faith or no faith at all. ”“People like you love to wrap yourselves in the Constitution while trampling its most basic promises,” he added. “Your rhetoric is bigotry, not leadership. It is division, not patriotism. And it should be condemned without hesitation,” Taylor added. But far-right influencer Laura Loomer, who at times has had the ear of President Donald Trump, wrote: “Amen. More GOP reps need to start saying this.”
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