Republican House Leaders Criticize Representative Steve King for Defending White Nationalism



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Republican House leaders clashed Thursday to criticize the representing Steve King for defending white nationalism their month of silence on the Republican of Iowa and his story of inflammatory remarks.

King, who won a ninth term in Congress in November, lamented in a New York Times interview that he had become derogatory. 19659005] "White nationalism, white supremacism, Western civilization – how has this language become offensive?" Said King in an interview published Thursday.

King then issued a statement in which he sought to retract his remarks. He stated that he rejected "these labels and the evil ideology that they defined" and proclaimed himself "simply nationalistic".

King's interview nonetheless elicited a reprimand from Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), Republican No. 3 in the House, said Thursday in a tweet Thursday morning: "These comments are hateful and racist and should not have any place in our national discourse. "


Union Statistics Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) later tried to return to the New York Times to defend white nationalism. (J. Scott Applewhite / AP / file)

It was soon followed by the House whip Steve Scalise (R-La.), Who told reporters in a pen that he was " Shocking to try to legitimize these But Scalise also hailed King's subsequent statement.

"I think it was important that he reject this type of harm because that's what it is. It's a devilish ideology, "said Scalise.

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) Also issued a statement Thursday night in which he sharply criticized King's comments at Times.

"Everything about white supremacy and white nationalism goes against who we are as a nation," said McCarthy. "Steve's language is reckless, wrong and does not its place in our society.The Declaration of Independence states that "all men are created equal." This is a fact, of course. "

Both McCarthy and Scalise were silent in October when They were asked to comment on the incendiary remarks that King made at the time, and at the time, the representative Steve Stivers (R-Ohio), then chairman of the National Committee of the Republican Congress, was the only member of the House GOP leadership to reprimand King (Cheney had not yet been elected to his position as Conference Chair.)

King has a long history of inflammatory remarks about race and immigration throughout his tenure at Congress. In 2017, King was widely criticized after declaring in a tweet that he was in agreement with Dutch right-wing politician Geert Wilders that "our civilization" can not be restored "with the babies of someone else ".

The actions of the legislature have given rise to a more in-depth examination in the country. Wake up mass shot of last year in a Pittsburgh synagogue. The massacre, which killed 11 people, was the deadliest attack on Jews in the United States

In June, King was criticized for retweeting a message sent by Mark Collett, a so-called "Nazi sympathizer". refused to remove the retweet.

Then, in the fall, King tweeted his support for Faith Goldy, a white nationalist who ran unsuccessfully for the mayor of Toronto. The Washington Post also reported that King had met in August with members of an Austrian far-right party with historical ties to the Nazis and said that "Western civilization was in decline."

Despite the loss of support from several companies, including Land O & # 39; Lakes and Intel, King still beat their Democratic opponent, JD Scholten, in November.

The 2020 election may be more difficult for King, though.

On Wednesday, Senator Randy Feenstra, a member of Iowa, announced that

And Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds (R), who supported King in the last campaign and who is appeared with him during the election campaign, said she would not support him this time. An NBC member in Des Moines said that "the last election had sounded the alarm for it to be so close".

Asked on Thursday whether the national party would support King in 2020, Scalise declined to speak.

"I have no idea what's going on in primary terms at the moment," he said.

Mike DeBonis contributed to this report.

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