WASHINGTON — House Republicans on Thursday criticized a fellow GOP lawmaker for making what they said were racist comments.
Rep. Steve King of Iowa was quoted in the New York Times as saying, “White nationalist, white supremacist, Western civilization — how did that language become offensive?”
The comment drew a denunciation from a member of House Republican leadership. Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney, the No. 3 Republican, said King’s remarks were “abhorrent and racist and should have no place in our national discourse.”
Another Republican, Rep. Justin Amash of Michigan, tweeted, “This is an embrace of racism, and it has no place in Congress or anywhere.”
King later issued a statement saying he is neither a white nationalist nor a white supremacist.
My statement on the New York Times article. pic.twitter.com/IjBHgZYgRD
— Steve King (@SteveKingIA) January 10, 2019
“I reject those labels and the evil ideology that they define. Further, I condemn anyone that supports this evil and bigoted ideology which saw in its ultimate expression the systematic murder of 6 million innocent Jewish lives,” he said. “Under any fair political definition, I am simply a Nationalist.”
It’s not the first time some Republicans have denounced King, nor is it the first time King has said his intent is to defend “Western civilization.”
“We can’t restore our civilization with somebody else’s babies,” he tweeted in 2017. He also told CNN, “I’d like to see an America that’s just so homogeneous that we look a lot the same.”
Just ahead of last year’s midterm elections, the chairman of the House GOP’s campaign arm issued an extraordinary public denunciation of him.
“Congressman Steve King’s recent comments, actions, and retweets are completely inappropriate,” tweeted Ohio Rep. Steve Stivers, then the chairman of the National Republican Campaign Committee. “We must stand up against white supremacy and hate in all forms, and I strongly condemn this behavior.”
King narrowly won re-election in November. But he’s already facing a challenge from within his own party in the next election.
Randy Feenstra, a Republican state senator, announced Wednesday that he plans to run against King in 2020. King has represented western Iowa in Congress since 2003.
Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds indicated Wednesday that she won’t support King in the 2020 GOP primary.
“I’ll stay out of the primary, but I think it’s a reflection of the last election,” the Republican governor said. “The last election was a wake-up call for it to be that close. That indicates that it does open the door for other individuals to take a look at that.”
This report includes material from CQ-Roll Call.
