RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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US Congressman Andy Ogles, who has a history of anti-Muslim statements, has lost his Republican primary in the state of Tennessee despite the endorsement of President Donald Trump.
Ogles’ loss on Thursday to Charlie Hatcher, the state’s former agricultural commissioner, represents a rare incident in which Trump’s endorsement failed to deliver in a Republican race.
Hatcher has also represented himself as pro-Trump, but the US president heaped praise on Ogles earlier on Thursday, giving the incumbent his “complete and total endorsement”.
With nearly 90 percent of the votes counted, Hatcher had a 6.6-point lead over Ogles.
The congressman, who was first elected in 2022, was running in a redrawn district after Republicans had changed the electoral map in the state to help the party retain its majority in the US House of Representatives.
Hatcher will face Chaz Molder, the Democratic mayor of Columbia – a city south of Nashville – in November.
The Republican nominee received a late endorsement from Tennessee Governor Bill Lee.
The district favors Republicans, but Democrats are trying to capitalize on the discontent with the economy and the war on Iran to flip seats across the country.
Ogles – a staunch Israel supporter – has faced outrage and condemnation from across the political spectrum for his comments against the Muslim community.
“Muslims don’t belong in American society. Pluralism is a lie,” he wrote on X in March.
In 2024, when an activist asked Ogles on Capitol Hill if he had seen footage of Palestinian children killed by US-funded bombs, he said: “You know what? I think we should kill them all, if that makes you feel better.”
Ogles paused, then added, ‘Everybody in Hamas.”
Hatcher previously rejected Ogles’s anti-Muslim rhetoric.
“There’s Muslims that are American citizens, that are good, law-abiding people, and there’s soldiers in the US Army that are good warriors, so absolutely,” he told the Williamson Scene, a local publication in June.
Ogles is the second Trump-endorsed candidate to lose a primary this week.
On Tuesday, Amir Hassan, a Navy veteran in Michigan who was supported by the president, lost to Thomas Smith, a candidate who had suspended his campaign before the election.
The midterm election season in the US is in full swing. Both parties are choosing their candidates through primaries, state by state. All 435 US House seats and 35 out of 100 Senate seats will be up for grabs in November.
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