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Anti-Muslim Rhetoric from Republican Lawmakers Draws Rare Rebuke From Colleagues

While some Republicans are calling Muslims a threat on social media, others told NOTUS that “this country was built on the First Amendment and the freedom of religion.”

Senator Tommy Tuberville

Many Senate Republicans criticized Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s social media post comparing 9/11 and an iftar hosted by New York City’s mayor. (J. Scott Applewhite/AP)

By Em Luetkemeyer

March 12, 2026 05:20 p.m.

Many Senate Republicans are rejecting anti-Muslim rhetoric coming from a few of their colleagues.

Anti-Islamic and anti-Muslim rhetoric has ramped up among conservatives since the Trump administration launched strikes on Iran at the end of February. Republican Rep. Andy Ogles of Tennessee has been posting anti-Muslim messages on X all week, as well as sharing his opinion that American society shouldn’t consist of more than one culture.

“Muslims don’t belong in American society,” Ogles posted Monday. “Pluralism is a lie.”