This congressman says Muslims ‘don’t belong’ in the US. How does he keep winning a district with so many? | David Daley

This congressman says Muslims ‘don’t belong’ in the US. How does he keep winning a district with so many? David Daley Andy Ogles’ election victories in Tennessee are a product of an electoral system broken by gerrymandering Andy Ogles represents more Muslims than any other Tennessee congressman . Yet he has no interest in representing them. He doesn’t even want them in the country. “Muslims don’t belong in American society,” the third-term Republican wrote on Twitter/X last week. He’s proudly doubled down on his incendiary statement, which joins a long list of Islamophobic beliefs . During last year’s New York City mayoral campaign, Ogles called Zohran Mamdani “a communist who has publicly embraced a terroristic ideology”. The US naturalization system, he said, required “any alignments with communism or terrorist activities to be disclosed. I’m doubtful he disclosed them. If this is confirmed, put him on the first flight back to Uganda.” It’s hardly Ogles’ first brush with controversy. He’s proposed amending the constitution to grant Donald Trump a third term . He was part of the push to topple the former speaker Kevin McCarthy, tipping the House into chaos before finally voting in McCarthy’s support. Then there’s the litany of outrages, exaggerations, and alleged campaign finance irregularities – like the time when Ogles raised $25,000 for a children’s burial garden using a photo of his stillborn baby. It seems to have never been built; Ogles won’t say where the money went, though he says it hasn’t been spent. How is it possible that someone under a cloud of scandal, and willing to denigrate his own constituents, can win re-election by double digits? Ogles is the poster child for the absurdity and unaccountability that ensue when some of the most toxic forces in our politics collide: gerrymandering, noncompetitive districts, and crowded, one-party primaries. Of course, he’s not the only one. We have a Congress filled with people like Andy Ogles – members who would ...