WASHINGTON, DC — Iowa Republican Congressman Steve King will be stripped of his committee assignments for the next two years after lamenting in a widely publicized New York Times interview that “white supremacy” and “white nationalism” have become offensive term. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy announced the sanctions against King Monday night after pledging on a weekend news program to take action.
McCarthy, a Republican from California, said King’s remarks were “beneath the dignity of the Party of Lincoln and the United States of America” and “call into question whether he will treat all Americans equally, without regard for race and ethnicity.
“House Republicans are clear: We are all in this together, as fellow citizens equal before God and the law,” McCarthy said.
King, who is now in his ninth term, has served on the Agriculture, Small Business and Judiciary Committees, and last year chaired the Judiciary’s subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice. The action by the GOP steering committee to strip King of committee assignments came after a private meeting between McCarthy and the Iowa congressman, who has a long history of racially insensitive remarks.
King called the action an “unprecedented assault” on his right to free speech and “a political decision that ignores the truth.” As he did on the House floor last week, King defended his comments and said they have been taken out of context.
King, who barely won re-election to a ninth term in Iowa’s most Republican House district last November, told The New York Times: “White nationalist, white supremacist, Western civilization — how did that language become offensive?”
On Friday, a day after The Times published its interview, King attempted to do damage control and said on the House floor that his remarks had been mischaracterized. He said he regretted “the heartburn that has poured forth” as a result of the interview.
He said the interview with The Times was a “discussion of other terms that have been used, almost always unjustly labeling otherwise innocent people. The word racist, the word Nazi, the word fascist, the phrase white nationalists, the phrase white supremacists.”
King said he was only wondering aloud: “How did that offensive language get injected into our political dialogue? Who does that, how does it get done, how do they get by with laying labels like this on people?”
“I want to make one thing abundantly clear: I reject those labels and the evil ideology that they define,” King said, adding that he told The Times “it’s not about race, it’s never been about race.””Under any fair political definition, I am simply a nationalist,” he said.
King said Monday the decision to kick him off committees “a political decision that ignores the truth.” He vowed to “continue to point out the truth and work with all the vigor that I have to represent 4th District Iowans for at least the next two years.”
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell denounced King earlier Monday, saying, “There is no place in the Republican Party, the Congress or the country for an ideology of racial supremacy of any kind.”
McConnell said in a statement that he has “no tolerance” for the positions offered by King, and said “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.”
House Democrats want to go farther and formally punish King. South Carolina Rep. James Clyburn, who is the third-ranking House Democrat and the highest-ranking African-American in Congress, introduced a formal resolution of disapproval late Monday.
Addressing what he called “a tale of two kings,” Clyburn said the Iowa lawmaker’s remarks were offensive because they embraced evil concepts.
Invoking the memory of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. — whose 90th birthday will be celebrated on Tuesday — Clyburn called on colleagues from both parties “to join me in breaking the deafening silence and letting our resounding condemnation be heard.”
Democratic Rep. Bobby Rush of Illinois said Monday he would introduce a resolution to formally censure the Iowa congressman, action he said would announce to the world that Congress has no home for “repugnant and racist behavior.”
“As with any animal that is rabid, Steve King should be set aside and isolated,” Rush said Monday in a statement that also called on Republicans to strip King of his committee memberships until he apologizes.
Rush lists more than a dozen examples of King’s remarks, including comments he made in 2006 comparing immigrants to livestock and ending with his remarks to The New York Times.
A separate censure resolution was introduced by Democratic Congressman Tim Ryan of Ohio.
“It doesn’t matter if you’re a Democrat or Republican, we all have a responsibility to call out Rep. King’s hateful and racist comments,” Ryan said, noting that the white supremacy comments were not the first time King has made headlines for inappropriate language.
President Trump was notably absent in the growing chorus of criticism aimed at King, saying, “I haven’t been following it.”
Last week, South Carolina Republican Sen. Tim Scott, a rising star in the GOP and one of two African-American Republicans in Congress, wrote in a Washington Post op-ed that the GOP’s silence in the face of comments like King’s is one reason “Republicans are constantly accused of racism.”
“Immigration is the perfect example, in which somehow our affection for the rule of law has become conflated with a perceived racism against brown and black people,” he wrote.
Speaking to CNN Monday, Republican Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah said King should resign. He “doesn’t have a place in our party” or in Congress, Romney said.
The developments come after McCarthy, speaking on the CBS news program “Face the Nation” Sunday, said the language King used “has no place in America.”
“That is not the America I know, and it is most definitely not the party of Lincoln. I have a scheduled meeting with him on Monday, and I will tell you this: I’ve watched on the other side that they do not take action when their members say something like this,” McCarthy said. “Action will be taken. I’m having a serious conversation with Congressman Steve King on his future and role in this Republican Party.”
King will have at least one Republican challenger in 2020 if he decides to seek a 10th term in Congress. A deeply conservative Iowa state senator, Randy Feenstra. Said last week that he will seek the Republican nomination in Iowa’s 4th District, saying voters needed an effective leader rather than “more sideshows and distractions.”
“Today, Iowa’s 4th District doesn’t have a voice in Washington, because our current representative’s caustic nature has left us without a seat at the table,” Feenstra said last week.
King responded that Feenstra’s challenge represented “misguided political opportunism, fueled by establishment puppeteers,” but he could have trouble with an opponent who has been elected three times in a state Senate district whose voters comprises roughly 20 percent of the congressional district.
In November, Democrat J.D. Scholten came within 3 points of defeating King in the 4th District, which is one of the country’s reddest congressional districts. Scholten, who was given little chance of winning, surged in the days leading up to election after leading Republicans and some donors abandoned King after reports he had met with white nationalists in Europe.
Ohio Rep. Steve Stivers, the chairman of the Republican National Congressional Committee, said the group would no longer support King — a remarkable development given the stakes for the GOP in the midterm.
“Congressman Steve King’s recent comments, actions, and retweets are completely inappropriate,” Stivers tweeted at the time. “We must stand up against white supremacy and hate in all forms, and I strongly condemn this behavior.”
Iowa’s two Republican senators were silent then, but last weekend condemned his comments.
“I condemn Rep. Steve King’s comments on white supremacy; they are offensive and racist and not representative of our state of Iowa,” Sen. Joni Ernst tweeted Saturday.
Sen. Chuck Grassley, Iowa’s senior senator, told Axios’ Jonathan Swan that King’s remarks were “offensive.”
“I find it offensive to claim white supremacy,” he reportedly said. “I will condemn it.”
On “Meet the Press” Sunday, Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz said King’s comments were “stupid.”
“It was stupid. It was hurtful. It was wrong. And he needs to stop it,” Cruz said. “I think all of us ought to be united regardless of party in saying, white supremacism, white nationalism is hatred, it is bigotry, it is evil, it is wrong. And I think we need that clarity and I’m certainly going to urge everyone to provide that clarity.”
Cruz was noncommittal about whether he will continue to support King, who co-chaired the Texas senator’s 2016 presidential campaign.
“What I’m going to do is urge everyone to stand for principles that matter,” Cruz said.
The Associated Press contributed reporting.
(AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)
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