Anti-Muslim rhetoric rises among Republicans with little pushback from GOP leadership

WASHINGTON (AP) — Anti-Muslim rhetoric from some Republicans in Congress intensified this week against the backdrop of the Iran war, with multiple lawmakers — including one who said “Muslims don’t belong in American society” — drawing condemnation from Democrats for their remarks but little pushback from GOP leaders.

The derogatory language has been percolating among Republican officials for months, often prominent when criticizing New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who is Muslim. But against the backdrop of the Iran war, a country with an overwhelmingly Muslim population, and attacks at a synagogue in Michigan and a college in Virginia, the tone sharpened this week.

“The enemy is inside our gates,” Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville wrote Thursday in response to a photo of Mamdani sitting on the ground during an iftar dinner at New York City Hall. The photo was juxtaposed with a picture of the Sept. 11 attacks.

Hours later, Tuberville doubled down: “To be clear, I didn’t ‘suggest’ Islamists are the enemy. I said it plainly.”

The rhetoric intensified Friday as GOP lawmakers responded to the attacks in Michigan and Virginia by urging a halt to all immigration into the United States. Some singled out Muslims specifically.

For many Muslims, it's a political moment that carries echoes from the early 2000s, when the 9/11 attacks and the Afghanistan and Iraq wars generated hostility toward Muslim communities in the United States, often accompanied by discrimination and racist violence.

“When members of Congress speak, it’s not just words,” said Iman Awad, the national director for policy and advocacy for the Muslim American advocacy group Emgage Action. “It shapes public perception. It legitimizes prejudice.”

Tennessee Rep. Andy Ogles in his social media post stated flatly that Muslims don't belong in the United States. He stood behind it after criticism mounted, later writing that “paperwork doesn’t magically make you American” and that “Muslims are unable to assimilate; they all have to go back.”

Asked about Ogles’ post on Tuesday, House Speaker Mike Johnson said he had spoken to members “about our tone and our message and what we say.” He said Ogles used “different language than I would use,” but added that he believes the issue raised by the comments is “serious.”

“There’s a lot of energy in the country, and a lot of popular sentiment that the demand to impose Sharia law in America is a serious problem," Johnson said. "That’s what animates this.”

Sharia is a religious framework that guides many Muslims’ moral and spiritual conduct. References to “Sharia law” have often been invoked by officials to suggest Muslims are attempting to impose religious practices on communities in the United States.

Many Republicans point to a Muslim-centered planned community near Dallas as proof of “Sharia law” — though the developers have denied the allegations and said they are being targeted because they are Muslim.

With Johnson not condemning Ogles’ remarks — or to recent comments from Florida Rep. Randy Fine that “the choice between dogs and Muslims is not a difficult one” — the anti-Muslim rhetoric grew louder. After the photo circulated of Mamdani at the iftar dinner, several Republicans responded with critical posts.

Democrats broadly condemned the GOP messages. Chuck Schumer, the leader of Senate Democrats, called Tuberville's post “mindless hate.”

“Islamophobic hate like this is fundamentally un-American and we must confront and overcome it whenever it rears its ugly head,” Schumer said.

Mamdani — in response to Tuberville's post that “the enemy is inside our gates" — said: "Let there be as much outrage from politicians in Washington when kids go hungry as there is when I break bread with New Yorkers.”

Federal officials identified a man who rammed his vehicle into a hallway at Temple Israel in West Bloomfield Township, Michigan, this week as a naturalized citizen born in Lebanon. Officials have said that the man had lost four family members in an Israeli airstrike in his native Lebanon last week, just after sunset as they were having their fast-breaking meal during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan

In Virginia, Mohamed Bailor Jalloh opened fire in a classroom at Old Dominion University before ROTC students subdued and killed him. Court documents showed that he had previously served time for attempting to aid the Islamic State and was released less than two years ago.

Some Republican lawmakers claimed vindication for their views. Others pushed for legislation. Minnesota Rep. Tom Emmer, the House GOP’s whip, said “the security of our nation hinges on our ability to denaturalize and deport terrorists.”

West Virginia Rep. Riley Moore said he would introduce a bill to denaturalize and deport any naturalized citizen who “commits an act of terrorism, plots to commit an act of terrorism, joins a terrorist organization or otherwise aids and abets terrorism against the American people.”

Similar rhetoric and policy pushes have surfaced before and drawn controversy. Last year, protesters connected to demonstrations over the Israel-Hamas war were arrested and targeted by authorities, including former Columbia University graduate student Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian activist the government has sought to detain and deport.

Middle East conflicts bringing domestic tensions is nothing new. With the war in Gaza, both Muslim and Jewish communities have faced faith-based discrimination and attacks.

Mamdani said the posts invoking the 9/11 attacks are problematic not just because of the words, but because of "the actions that often accompany them.”

“I think too of the smaller indignities, the indignities that many New Yorkers face, but that Muslims are expected to face in silence,” Mamdani said. “Of the exhaustion of having to explain yourself to those who are not interested in understanding. Of the men who introduce themselves by their given name only to be called Muhammad for years on end.”

The stark silence from Republican leaders, including President Donald Trump, reflects a broader change in the party. After the Sept. 11 attacks in 2001, Republican President George W. Bush visited the Islamic Center of Washington, D.C., to explicitly warn against Muslim discrimination.

“America counts millions of Muslims amongst our citizens, and Muslims make an incredibly valuable contribution to our country,” Bush said during the visit, adding: “They need to be treated with respect. In our anger and emotion, our fellow Americans must treat each other with respect.”

“Those who feel like they can intimidate our fellow citizens to take out their anger don’t represent the best of America, they represent the worst of humankind, and they should be ashamed of that kind of behavior,” Bush said.

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani speaks during a Rental Ripoff Hearing at Fordham University on Wednesday, March 11, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)

Police tape hangs outside the Temple Israel synagogue Friday, March 13, 2026, in West Bloomfield Township, Mich. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

FILE - Rep. Andy Ogles, R-Tenn., arrives for a meeting with Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., at the Capitol in Washington, Dec. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

FILE - The U.S. Capitol is seen at sunrise March 9, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Second-ranked Arizona and seventh-ranked Iowa State traded shot-for-shot down the stretch in their Big 12 Tournament semifinal Friday night, and it seemed almost inevitable that whichever team had the ball last would win.

It wound up in the hands of Wildcats guard Jaden Bradley with a few seconds left in a tie game.

He made the inevitable happen.

Bradley drove to his right as Cyclones guard Killyan Toure guarded him tightly, created just enough space to get off a jumper from the wing, and watched it splash through as his teammates engulfed him to give Arizona a heart-stopping 82-80 victory. The Wildcats will face No. 5 Houston in the final. The Cougars beat No. 14 Kansas 69-47 in the second semifinal.

“It was a great game. An epic battle. And I respect Iowa State so much,” said Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd, whose team is headed to its second consecutive Big 12 title game. “I thought they played really well today. Their shot-making was different than when we played them 10 days ago. They're a good team and were a good version of themselves and they really made us dig deep.”

The Wildcats (31-2) certainly showed off their depth with Anthony Dell’Orso matching a career-best with six 3-pointers and scoring 26 points off the bench. Bradley finished with 15, Ivan Kharchenkov had 17 points and Tobe Awaka added 10 points and 10 rebounds.

Together, they made up for an off-night by All-Big 12 guard Brayden Burries, who was 0 for 7 from the field and had just three points, and likely first-round draft pick Koa Peat, who finished with four points while turning the ball over four times.

“We've got so many guys that can get it going any night,” Bradley said.

He's one of them.

The game seemed to be headed to overtime after Iowa State guard Tamin Lipsey, who had been 1 of 10 from the field and battling a sore groin, hit a 3-pointer from the wing with 15.2 seconds to go. Lloyd chose not to call a timeout and Bradley calmly walked up the floor with the ball, moving his teammates where he wanted them as if he was one of the coaches.

Then he drove to his right. Toure went with him. And with just enough air on his shot, it swished for the win.

“A lot of times we would call a timeout late from a defensive standpoint,” Cyclones coach T.J. Otzelberger said. “Look, at the end of the day, Killyan guarded Bradley as perfect as you can guard him. Bradley is a winning player, a fierce competitor.”

It was a fitting finish to a dramatic showdown between two teams capable of winning the national championship.

Milan Momcilovic matched a career high with eight 3-pointers and led the Cyclones (27-7) with 28 points. All-Big 12 forward Joshua Jefferson had 21 points, Toure finished with 12 and Lipsey had eight points along with seven assists.

It was a really intense game, and all credit to them," Jefferson said. “They just hit a tough shot to end the game.”

The Wildcats were able to weather a 14-5 run by Iowa State to start the game, and even pulled ahead 37-34 with a 9-0 run of their own late in the first half. But the Cyclones took the momentum into halftime when Momcilovic hit a trio of 3-pointers over the final 1:23, including a buzzer-beater after an Arizona turnover with a couple seconds on the clock.

The two teams continued to trade blows during the second half, and at one point, Dell’Orso and Momcilovic answered each other's 3s on four consecutive trips down the floor. In all, the teams hit 11 of their final 13 shots — seven of them 3-pointers.

“It was just a real fun game,” Momcilovic said. “Down the stretch it was bucket after bucket.”

The crowd of 19,450 packed inside T-Mobile Center, a single-session record for the Big 12 Tournament, roared with every hoop, giving the game the feeling of a Final Four matchup before the NCAA Tournament even begins next week.

Arizona wound up winning. But it was hard to call Iowa State a loser.

“We have tremendous belief in the guys in our locker room, the work they do every day,” Otzelberger said. “We really respect Arizona and their program, but just like they're a Final Four contender, so are we. We have big things ahead of us starting next week.”

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Arizona center Motiejus Krivas (13) gets past Iowa State forward Blake Buchanan (23) to put up a shot during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game in the semifinal round of the Big 12 Conference tournament Friday, March 13, 2026, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Arizona's Jaden Bradley celebrates after making the game-winning shot at the buzzer to defeat Iowa State during an NCAA college basketball game in the semifinal round of the Big 12 Conference tournament Friday, March 13, 2026, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)