Poor Steve King.
When the longtime Iowa congressman accused Mexico of exporting criminals to the United States, hardly anyone paid attention.
When he talked about building a wall to keep out Mexican immigrants, he was generally ignored.
King used misleading videos to promote hatred toward immigrants and called for the end of birthright citizenship. He used racist language and promoted neo-Nazis on Twitter. A member of his own political party called him a “white supremacist.”
The Republican congressman from Iowa was a racist in the GOP before racism replaced capitalism as the party’s guiding credo.
But Donald Trump took credit for King’s ideas.
After Trump was elected president in 2016, King said he was invited to the White House, where Trump told him he had raised more money for the congressman than anyone else.
“Yes, Mr. President,” King replied in an interview he gave the New York Times in June 2019. “But I market-tested your immigration policy for 14 years, and that ought to be worth something.”
The GOP may not be what it is today without people like Steve King.
King was a critic of multiculturalism before others in the GOP had ever heard of the term, describing it as “a tool for the Left to subdivide a culture and civilization into our own little ethnic enclaves and pit us against each other.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/15/us/politics/steve-king-offensive-quotes.html
King spread conspiracy theories – like “the Great Replacement” — the way that farmers in Iowa spread manure on corn field.
The New York Times defined “the Great Replacement” as “a conspiracy theory on the far right that claims shadowy elites are working behind the scenes to reduce white populations to minorities in their own countries.”
The Times reported that King endorsed a Toronto mayoral candidate “with neo-Nazi ties” and met with a far-right Austrian politician “accused of trivializing the Holocaust.” King followed an Austrian anti-Semite on Twitter who thinks there should be a portrait of Adolf Hitler in “every classroom.”
One GOP congressman, Steve Stivers denounced King by saying, “We must stand up against white supremacy and hate in all forms.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/10/us/politics/steve-king-trump-immigration-wall.html
Stivers’ response followed a quote by King in the New York Times story that said, “White nationalist, white supremacist, Western civilization — how did that language become offensive?”
His admirers included self-professed neo-Nazis.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/10/us/politics/steve-king-trump-immigration-wall.html
How did the GOP show their appreciation?
They joined with Democrats to issue a rebuke of King by a vote of 424-1.
The one “no” vote came from a Democrat who didn’t think a rebuke was sufficient enough.
This vote is historic for any reason became the GOP Congress went on record condemning racism.
King expressed surprise at the censure.
“I thought you knew me well,” he said.
https://apnews.com/article/712ea1e8c9f24f8ba3afd7b680288a87
They obviously knew King well.
The party didn’t show this kind of unanimity when King repeatedly defended dog fighting and cockfighting.
https://www.thedodo.com/rep-steve-king-animal-villain-987304833.html
Or when he defended rape and incest.
Steve King endorsed dog fighting and cockfighting.
He defended rape and incest.
And got re-elected over and over and over.
Really.
King said this in a speech to a conservative group:
“What if we went back through all the family trees and just pulled those people out that were products of rape and incest? Would there be any population of the world left if we did that?” he said at the event in Urbandale, Iowa.
“Considering all the wars and all the rapes and pillages taken place and whatever happened to culture after society? I know I can’t certify that I’m not a part of a product of that.”
King’s actions and statements might be better explained if he were the product of inbreeding or crossbreeding.
The GOP stripped King of committee assignments for his remarks about white supremacism.
“There is no place in the Republican Party, the Congress or the country for an ideology of racial supremacy of any kind,” Senate Leader Mitch McConnell said, adding, “I have no tolerance for such positions and those who espouse these views are not supporters of American ideals and freedoms. Rep. King’s statements are unwelcome and unworthy of his elected position. If he doesn’t understand why ‘white supremacy’ is offensive, he should find another line of work.”
When President Trump was asked to respond to the criticism of King, he said, “I haven’t been following it.
King lost in the GOP primary in 2020 after the party establishment endorsed his opponent.
The Guardian of London, England, reported that the GOP had ousted King from Congress but then asked, “Where’s the outrage over Trump?”
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/aug/15/republicans-trump-steve-king-iowa-congressman-racism
