Rep. Andrew Ogles (R-Tennessee) is blaming his staff for a homophobic post made on his X account, as Republicans issue rare criticism of one of their member’s social media activity.
A post on Ogles’s official X account Tuesday stated: “Homosexuality has no place in America. Happy Nuclear Family Month.” The post was seemingly in response to the start of Pride Month, which celebrates the LGBTQ community.
After widespread backlash, the tweet was deleted. Late Tuesday, Ogles wrote on his account that a member of his communications team had made the post while he had been out working on his farm.
“The post was stupid, hurtful and a complete distraction from my America First focus. The employee has been reprimanded,” Ogles said.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) and other GOP lawmakers expressed rare displeasure with the post.
“We’re supposed to love our neighbors, everybody, supposed to treat every single person with dignity and respect, whether we agree with them or not,” Johnson told reporters Wednesday morning, saying the post was “untoward.”
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-Louisiana) called the comments “reprehensible” and said the post should have never been shared.
Rep. Michael Lawler (R-New York), who represents a swing district, told reporters Wednesday that it was “idiotic and offensive” to insinuate that LGBTQ people should not be Americans.
“I’m glad he deleted the post, but do better — like focus on real issues impacting the American people. Stop denigrating somebody just because you may disagree with who they are or their lifestyle,” Lawler said. “The fact is, this is what makes America great. You go to another part of the world, and people are killed for being gay, so to me that kind of crap just has no place.”
Ogles has a history of making offensive social media posts, particularly those expressing Islamophobic sentiments — though they typically have been ignored by House GOP leadership. In March, he made at least a dozen anti-Muslim posts, including one stating that “Muslims don’t belong in American society.” His activity drew criticism from several Democratic lawmakers, but Johnson declined to condemn Ogles’s remarks.
Mariana Alfaro and Anna Liss-Roy contributed to this report.
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