While President Donald Trump complained about Somalis living in Minnesota and referred to them as “garbage” during his cabinet meeting on Tuesday, MAGA-aligned U.S. Representative Andy Ogles (R-TN) wrote on social media: “America was founded by settlers and missionaries, not immigrants. Coming to America was always about duty, not entitlement. Deport all illegals!”
Add this to the “I work with morons” file, please. https://t.co/ZG57PyjruF
— Mark Pocan (@MarkPocan) December 2, 2025
Ogles is getting slammed on social media with responses including: “Settlers are immigrants” and “Settlers are, by definition, people who migrated from one place to another. Labels don’t change the fact that movement from one land to another is migration. History is clearer when we use accurate language.”
The arguments represent further evidence of how much the political discourse has changed since then-Senator John F. Kennedy — before his presidency — wrote his book about the founding of America which he titled, simply and uncontroversially, A Nation of Immigrants.
[Note: Some Ogles supporters argued that there’s a difference, that “settlers” come to a new country to create new political and social structures while “immigrants” come to assimilate into an existing structure.]
Mocking Ogles, U.S. Representative Mark Pocan (D-WI) replied: “Add this to the ‘I work with morons’ file, please.”
Note: With President Trump’s endorsement, Ogles is running for re-election in 2026. He will face fellow MAGA supporter, dairy farmer and former Tennessee Agriculture Commissioner Charlie Hatcher in the GOP primary.
Tennessee, it’s time we send a real farmer not a fancy talker to fight for our farms, families, and freedoms in Congress. As a 5th-gen dairy man and proud Trump Conservative, I’ll stand strong for 2A, borders, and putting America First.
pic.twitter.com/vHE8nzz4Ff
— Hatcher for Congress (@HatcherforTN) November 18, 2025
As seen below, Hatcher also supports the Trump administration and its mass immigration policies including the recent “Memphis surge.”
Hatcher wrote: “Immigration arrests in Memphis are surging and for good reason. After years of weak enforcement, law and order is being restored. One in five arrests now involves immigration detainees a clear sign that this program is working.”
Immigration arrests in Memphis are surging and for good reason.
After years of weak enforcement, law and order is being restored. One in five arrests now involves immigration detainees a clear sign that this program is working .https://t.co/Oj6BvcuJP3— Hatcher for Congress (@HatcherforTN) November 4, 2025
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) sees an opportunity to win back Tennessee’s 5th congressional district with Ogles facing an ongoing investigation into his campaign finances.
Democrats running for Ogles’s seat include the twice elected Mayor of Columbia, Tennessee, Chaz Molder, who outraised Ogles in the third quarter — $790,000 versus $61,000.
As heard below, Molder said Ogles is “chasing national headlines for the wrong reasons instead of local headlines for the right reasons” and “embarrassing us it seems every time he opens his mouth.”
NEW INTERVIEW: Columbia Mayor Chaz Molder (@chazmolder), Candidate for Congress in TN-5
“It seems like Andy Ogles embarrasses us every time he opens his mouth. We need a congressman who will focus on the issues that matter.” pic.twitter.com/pNQhOZVyGp
— The Tennessee Holler (@TheTNHoller) November 11, 2025