Congressional Republicans echo anti-Muslim rhetoric as Islamophobic incidents rise

By David Hood-Nuño

WASHINGTON, March 12 (Reuters) – Some Republicans in Congress have drawn criticism for posting anti‑Muslim rhetoric, including comments targeting New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, the city’s first Muslim mayor, with one picturing him alongside a photograph of the September 11, 2001 attack on the city. 

On social media, at least four Republican members of Congress posted language viewed by many Muslim Americans and Democrats as Islamophobic.

In a Thursday post on X, Republican Senator Tommy Tuberville of Alabama juxtaposed a photograph of the September 11 attack on the World Trade Center with a March 8 photo of Mamdani hosting an “iftar” dinner to mark the Muslim holy month of Ramadan at New York City Hall, with the text, “less than 25 years ago,” and “The enemy is inside the gates.”

Tuberville has previously expressed anti-Muslim rhetoric online and on the Senate floor. He did not respond to a request for comment. He later reiterated his comments in multiple subsequent X posts on Thursday.    

The Islamic advocacy group Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) added Tuberville to its list of anti-Muslim extremists in the United States, marking the first time it has designated a U.S. senator as an anti-Muslim extremist. 

Islamophobic incidents in 2025 reached a record ​high, according to a CAIR study issued this week.

There has also been a sharp rise in antisemitism, including an incident Thursday in which a man drove a truck into the hallway of a Detroit-area synagogue.

Rep. Andy Ogles of Tennessee drew condemnation from Democrats and religious figures earlier this week when he said “Muslims don’t ​belong in American society. Pluralism is ​a lie,” on X. 

Ogles later doubled down on the comment, posting: “Muslims ‌are ⁠unable to assimilate; they all have to go back,” beside a link to a news story about one of two men charged with federal terrorism-related crimes for allegedly igniting a homemade bomb at an anti-Islam protest outside Mamdani’s mansion in New York. Authorities say the pair declared they were inspired by the Islamist militant group Islamic State. 

In this current session of Congress, Democrats have filed two censure resolutions against Ogles for his verbal attacks on Muslims, and specifically Mamdani. Ogles called Mamdani “little muhammad” and said he should be “DEPORTED” and “subject to denaturalization proceedings” after winning the Democratic primary for New York City mayor.

Michigan Democratic Representative Shri Thanedar filed a censure resolution on Thursday that would remove Ogles from the House Homeland Security Committee.

“Congressman Ogles’ disgusting and bigoted words have no place anywhere in our country, let alone from a member of Congress. His words incite hatred against millions of Muslim Americans,” Thanedar said in a statement.

Republican House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson, in comments to reporters earlier this week, declined to condemn Ogles’ remarks.

“The language that people use, it’s different language than what I would use, but I think that’s a serious issue,” he said, referring to claims that Islamists are trying to impose Muslim sharia law on the United States.

Sharia is a set of legal and moral principles, interpreted differently across the faith. Installing sharia in the U.S. does not enjoy wide support among American Muslims and community leaders.

“Ironically, the only people trying to impose their religion on America are those politicians who seek to ban Muslims from our nation, who try to force public school teachers to read the Bible to their students, and who demand that our nation go to war in the Middle East to fulfill their end times prophecies,” CAIR Government Affairs Director Robert McCaw said in a statement.   

Using the same image of Mamdani as Tuberville did, Rep. Andrew Clyde from Georgia said on X Thursday that Democrats “whine” about the separation of church and state when public officials post Christian images but “when it’s Islam, they welcome it.”

Meanwhile, Rep. Chip Roy of Texas posted an image of the west side of the U.S. Capitol with the words “Protect America. Ban Sharia.” 

Roy and fellow Texas Republican Rep. Keith Self started the Sharia Free Caucus, a group of nearly 50 lawmakers dedicated to banning sharia law and supporting legislation like the “Preserving a Sharia-Free America Act” — whose Senate version was authored by Tuberville — that seeks to deny immigration benefits and deport any immigrant who advocates for imposing sharia in a way that violates U.S. law or constitutional rights.

Clyde, Ogles, Roy and Self did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat from New York, said Tuberville’s comments amount to “mindless hate.” There are roughly 4.5 million Muslim Americans, according to the 2020 U.S. Religion Census.

“Muslim Americans are cops, doctors, nurses, teachers, bankers, bricklayers, mothers, fathers, neighbors, mayors, and more,” Schumer wrote on X.

(Reporting by David Hood-Nuño; Editing by Kat Stafford and Alistair Bell)