GOP Rep Calls For Zohran Mamdani To Be Denaturalized, Deported Over Old Rap Lyric

In a blatantly xenophobic post on Thursday, Republican Rep. Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.) called for Zohran Mamdani, a New York state assemblymember who’s set to be the Democratic nominee for New York City mayor, to be deported and denaturalized over an old song lyric.

Mamdani, who is a naturalized U.S. citizen born in Uganda, should be “subject to denaturalization proceedings,” Ogles argued, citing a line in a rap song that the Democratic socialist released in 2017.

Ogles’ shocking statements are among a number of Islamophobic attacks that Republicans have made against the 33-year-old progressive, who will become New York City’s first Muslim mayor if he’s elected in November.

As HuffPost’s Ben Blanchet reported, right-wing commentators like conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer have claimed there would be “another 9/11 in NYC” under Mamdani, while Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) has called him a “jihadist.” Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) also quickly put up a poll on X asking her followers if Mamdani should be “denaturalized and deported” following Ogles’s post.

Mamdani has fielded death threats during his campaign, prompting a police investigation.