Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.) said Thursday he is planning to introduce a resolution condemning Rep. Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.) for using offensive language towards fellow lawmakers, including comments he made against New York City Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani.
“I have profound differences of opinion with Assemblymember Mamdani, but we had a mutually respectful conversation last weekend, and we’re committed to building a relationship and continuing the dialogue,” Torres said during a Thursday appearance on MSNBC’s “The Briefing Room with Jen Psaki.”
“But I have a deeply felt obligation to speak out against hate, whether it’s anti-Jewish bigotry or anti-Muslim bigotry,” he added.
Ogles previously accused Mamdani of supporting terrorism and urged Attorney General Pam Bondi to denaturalize and deport him.
A week later, the Tennessee lawmaker referred to House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) as the “dollar store Obama” in a social media post on X.
“Dollar Store Obama has been hysterically rambling for over three and a half hours, whining about tax cuts for working Americans, bonuses for our brave law enforcement, and mass deportations of illegals,” Ogles wrote on Thursday.
“He’s still droning on like a broken record… Hakeem needs to get off the House floor, take a drug test, and start putting America first – not last.”
Torres said the comments are unacceptable and the behavior should not be condoned in the lower chamber.
“That kind of bigotry has no place in the United States of America. America is and should be a multiracial, multiethnic, multireligious democracy whose creed is e pluribus unum,” he told Psaki.
“That’s what we should be celebrating on Independence Day.”
The Hill has contacted Ogles for comment.
