"It was a political lynching": Steve King pledges to fight GOP after his exile

Congress

Republican Iowa accuses Republican leaders of trying to fire him from Congress.

Representative Steve King, enthusiastic about returning to Congress, is committed to reviewing all procedural options for forcibly returning to committees where he has been exiled.

But the Republican of Iowa finds little support from his colleagues for the doomed mission, which comes close to six months after King's dismissal of the panels for making racist remarks.

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"It was a political crowd of lynching. I had to let the blood cool, "said King in a rare interview on Tuesday. And the blood has cooled, and they no longer want to be confronted with the reality of what they've done. "

Representative Ralph Norman (SS) briefly rose at a Republican conference meeting Tuesday morning to urge his colleagues to reinstate King in committees of the House of Agriculture and Justice . However, according to several sources in the room, no legislator applauded, applauded or applauded, and lawmakers quickly moved to the next number.

The GOP leaders, for their part, clearly indicated that they had no intention of reassigning King to his committees after he had defended white supremacy and white nationalism during an interview. with the New York Times earlier this year.

Despite everything, King remained provocative, even after triggering controversy last week by suggesting that not all cultures contribute equally to society.

"They think that if they manage to keep the subject packed, he will eventually leave. But every day that passes, my patience becomes more and more thin. And that means I have to solve the problem, "said King.

"I do not want it to be the only thing I do in this congress," he added, "but it's something I will not let go of."

A handful of uncompromising Conservatives fought to collect petition signatures to win back the King committee seats. They will need the support of 25 legislators to force the GOP steering committee to review the issue and 50 members to force the entire caucus to vote by secret ballot on the resolution.

King says he's been in touch with the Conservatives about the long-term effort, which includes some of his closest congressional allies. In addition to Norman, GOP representatives Louie Gohmert of Texas, Paul Gosar of Arizona and Brian Babin of Texas are also participating in the effort. to reinstate King on the committees.

Intransigent claim that King was treated unfairly, claiming that his comments to the Times were misinterpreted. "It was unfair of the way it was quoted," said Gohmert. King was criticized for having declared: "White nationalist, white supremacist, Western civilization, how did this language become shocking?

King, however, pushed the critic even further, accusing the GOP leaders of deliberately using this episode – and stripping him of his duties on the committee – to overthrow him from Congress. King has a long history of controversial rhetoric that has always created headaches for leadership, but it was only during his interview with the Times that party leaders decided to take disciplinary action.

King, who has already met several of the GOP's main challenges, has struggled to raise funds since the start of the controversy this year. In the first three months of 2019, he raised only $ 61,666 – a disturbing sign for the outgoing president, who has been sitting for nine years, while he seeks to keep his seat in Congress.

While King was largely ostracized by the GOP, there is at least one party leader who, in his opinion, did not abandon him: President Donald Trump.

Trump, who himself refuted accusations of racism, avoided questions about King earlier this year, saying he had not followed the controversy.

King, however, said he was "satisfied" with the president's response and indicated that he had been invited to an immigration event at the White House just a few weeks ago.

"The president and I are fine," said King. "If you notice, it's not part of it."

King will have another opportunity to stand alongside Trump next week, when he will attend an Iowa GOP fundraiser in the state of Hawkeye, where the president will also be attending. But King declined to say he was planning to ask Trump, who is close to minority House leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), To intervene in the work of his committee.

"I'm going to have to decide," he said. "On some of these things, if you plan them too far in advance, it will not work as well."