Who is Andy Ogles – the Republican representative pushing hard for a third Trump term?

A Republican politician is facing a backlash once again, after he repeated calls for US president Donald Trump to serve an unconstitutional third term in office.

Andy Ogles, the representative for Tennessee, has made a number of calls for the convicted felon to be the first exception to the current rule limiting presidents to a maximum of two terms (or eight years) in office.

Let us remind you of previous instances where the Republican made headlines…

Amending the 22nd amendment

Back in January, Ogles put forward a resolution to amend the 22nd amendment of the US constitution, which states “no person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice”, to allow for Trump to serve a third term.

In a statement issued at the time, the representative said: “President Trump’s decisive leadership stands in stark contrast to the chaos, suffering, and economic decline Americans have endured over the past four years.

“He has proven himself to be the only figure in modern history capable of reversing our nation’s decay and restoring America to greatness, and he must be given the time necessary to accomplish that goal.

“To that end, I am proposing an amendment to the Constitution to revise the limitations imposed by the 22nd Amendment on presidential terms. This amendment would allow President Trump to serve three terms, ensuring that we can sustain the bold leadership our nation so desperately needs.”

The proposal remains with the House Committee on the Judiciary.

Calls to be censured over Mamdani comments

As New York mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani rose in popularity and won the Democratic primary, Ogles took to Twitter/X on 26 June to share a letter sent to Attorney General Pam Bondi demanding an investigation into whether Mamdani “should be subject to denaturalisation proceedings”.

The accompanying text saw the representative call him “Zohran ‘little muhammad’ Mamdani” and state “he needs to be DEPORTED”.

This was condemned by Democrat representative Shri Thanedar of Michigan, who filed a resolution to censure Ogles for the “racist, Islamophobic, and anti-immigrant post”.

Another resolution calling out the attack on Mamdani was introduced by New York Democrat Richie Torres, which also criticised Ogles for a tweet on 1 July in which he branded House Democrats leader Hakeem Jeffries a “discount dollar store Obama”.

Both resolutions are with the House Committee on Ethics.

Trump should ‘run D.C. as long as he wants’

Now, Ogles has doubled down on his call for Trump to serve a – currently unconstitutional - third term, this time going as far as to suggest people should “let him run D.C. as long as he wants”.

The post has since been met with considerable condemnation, with one Twitter/X user reminding Ogles of his oath to defend the US constitution:

Tennessee politician Justin Jones described the tweet as “embarrassing”:

Former Ohio state senator Nina Turner argued the tweet “should be grounds for removal” from Congress:

And journalist Mehdi Hasan commented: “If you’re under any illusions about what an authoritarian personality cult the GOP has become, they’re not hiding it”:

indy100 has approached Ogles for comment.

Why not read…

• Can Donald Trump actually run for a third term?
• Gavin Newsom warns Trump is dead serious about running again

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