Overview
- The clash followed a video in which Mehdi Hasan argued that if churches can ring bells, mosques should be able to broadcast the call to prayer.
- Rep. Brandon Gill replied that Muslims are moving to the U.S. “en masse” to transform public life and told Hasan his Christian wife does not want to hear “oppressive” prayer calls, adding, “go back to the UK.”
- Hasan countered by highlighting the immigrant background of Gill’s wife and by asserting that Muslim Americans are as American as anyone else.
- Gill’s remarks drew broad online condemnation for intolerance and hypocrisy, while the dispute remained an online controversy with no reported congressional action or policy change.
- Coverage noted Gill’s prior statements about Muslims, including calling for Rep. Ilhan Omar’s deportation and criticizing candidate Zohran Mamdani for eating with his hands, as conservatives also challenged a separate Hasan claim about enslaved Muslims’ share using research that estimates a far smaller proportion.