Rep. Andy Ogles (R-TN) is the latest Republican to generate ire from the Left over comments that have been deemed to be Islamophobic, but he is not backing down.

After the attack in New York City by two apparent wannabe jihadists, Ogles did not hold his tongue.

And Democrats took the bait and went after him, setting up a culture war where he will quickly find out where America stands.

First, there was Fine

This battle was started by Rep. Randy Fine (R-FL) when some comments he made about Muslims were taken out of context.

An X post of his showed up in a report on ABC News, stating, “If they force us to choose, the choice between dogs and Muslims is not a difficult one.”

This was one post in a long thread over a debate about local Muslims wanting to outlaw dogs as pets.

Fine’s point was that if we had to choose between Muslim laws taking over American society or keeping dogs as pets, the dogs would win every time. But that one post was cherry-picked, allowing the Dems and media to paint Fine as a bigot.

Ogles lights a fire

After the recent attempted bombing at the Gracie Mansion in New York City, Rep. Andy Ogles (R-TN) lit a fire under this debate, posting, "Muslims don’t belong in American society. Pluralism is a lie.”

This was not taken out of context, but a direct shot against Muslims that he justified by the rising violence in this country being attributed to Muslims.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) responded on X, "Andy Ogles is a malignant clown and pathological liar who has fabricated his whole life story. Disgusting Islamophobes like you do not belong in Congress or in civilized society. And that’s why House Democrats will defeat you in November.”

California Governor Gavin Newsom also chimed in, responding, "Disgusting comments. America was founded on the idea of religious freedom. Republicans must denounce this now!"

Ogles responds

Ogles was not backing down, however, and he fired right back against the comments made by Democrat leadership.

According to The Hill, he posted, “To Hakeem Jeffries, Gavin Newsom, and the high-ranking Democrats flooding X to condemn me: A Muslim shot and killed three Americans in Texas. Two Muslims tried to blow up New York City…again.

“Meanwhile, all DHS counterterrorism programs are unfunded because you shut them down.”

Is he right, or is he wrong? That is a question the American voter will likely decide in just a few months. But one thing he did do, be it intentional or not, was force Democrats to defend extremists as well as highlighting the fact that the agency directly responsible for the security of this nation is unfunded because Democrats refuse to budge off the dime they have been standing on for months. Strategically, I would call this falling on a grenade for the good of the party. Ogles may have hurt himself, but he also exposed Democrats in the process.