House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., warned of what he characterized as an encroaching threat from Sharia law in the United States, which he said is incompatible with the U.S. Constitution, during a press briefing Tuesday in Florida.
Asked to respond to a controversial X post from Rep. Andy Ogles, R-Tenn., who tweeted Monday, “Muslims don’t belong in American society. Pluralism is a lie,” Johnson suggested to reporters that while he might not necessarily agree with Ogles’ tone, he appreciates the concern he expressed.
“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. The language that people use is different language than I would use, but I think that that’s a serious issue.”
“Sharia law and the imposition of Sharia law is contrary to the U.S. Constitution. Our Constitution is the greatest in the world. It’s the longest surviving Constitution on the planet, and we’re 250 years into this grand experiment in self-governance,” he continued.
Noting that the Declaration of Independence affirms human dignity and value, and that U.S. law guarantees freedom of religion, Johnson said Sharia law conflicts with it.
“But when you seek to come to a country and not assimilate, but to impose Sharia law — Sharia law is in conflict with the Constitution — that is the conflict that people are talking about. It is not about people, as Muslims; it is about those who seek to impose a different belief system that is in direct conflict with the Constitution.”
Johnson was echoing sentiments he expressed last month, when he noted that the Bible does not demand a nation accept immigrants who refuse to assimilate.
In January, Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, launched the Sharia-Free America Caucus with another Texas congressman amid fears their state has been inundated with Muslim immigrants who have no intention of assimilating, but aim instead to establish self-governing enclaves under Sharia.
Last month, Roy chaired a hearing by the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution and Limited Government on the topic, during which Democratic members scoffed at the threat of Sharia while warning about what they deemed the greater threat posed by “white Christian nationalism,” which they never defined.
Roy noted during the hearing that he has spoken to Texans in the Dallas-Fort Worth area who claim parts of the Metroplex have effectively become “no-go zones” for non-Muslims, echoing similar situations in Europe and the United Kingdom.
Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., who was among the Democrats at the hearing who dismissed concerns about Sharia, rebuked Ogles for his post earlier this week.
“Racism and religious bigotry are the lie — not pluralism — and Andy Ogles doesn’t know the American Constitution, which guarantees Free Exercise of Religion, no Establishment of Religion, Equal Protection and no religious tests for public office,” Raskin said in an X post.
“Ogles is lucky there’s no intelligence test for public office. But Speaker Johnson, a zealous religious believer, should speak out against this hate,” he added.
Ogles also tweeted Tuesday that Muslims are incapable of assimilating in response to news that the parents of alleged ISIS terrorist Ibrahim Kayumi, who was arrested in New York after throwing a homemade bomb that failed to detonate outside Gracie Mansion last Saturday, were naturalized U.S. citizens from Afghanistan.
“Paperwork doesn’t magically make you American. Muslims are unable to assimilate; they all have to go back,” he said.