House GOP Raises Pressure to Denounce Steve King

Speaker Paul RyanPaul Davis RyanTrump Plans Decree to End Citizenship: Conway's Husband Quietly Tells Trump's Birth Right Proposal "Unconstitutional" and Trump Visits Pittsburgh Synagogue MORE (R-Wis.) And other GOP leaders are under increasing pressure to speak up and take action against the representative. Steve KingSteven (Steve) Arnold Jewish leaders in Iowa tear down countdown to King's "white supremacy" elections: a week at mid-term | The battlefield of the house is enlarging | Trump double on immigration | GOP campaign leader reprimands Steve King | The Clinton team calm the 2020 speech | Sanders will not promise to serve the entire Senate mandate Purina abandons campaign contributions to Steve King, citing "recent statements" SUITE (R-Iowa) for his public support for white nationalist candidates and his offensive comments of a racist nature.

The pressure comes just days after a murderous shooting in a Jewish synagogue in Pittsburgh and, while King, a fervent Conservative and inflexible in immigration, suddenly finds himself in his first competitive run for years.

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) on Wednesday urged the GOP leaders to formally censor King and invited Ryan to remove King from his position as chairman of the subcommittee. Be p. Carlos CurbeloCarlos Luis CurbeloTrump Plans a Decree to End Citizenship: The Hill's 12:30 Report The GOP Legislator: Trump's Can not Change Constitution or Laws by Decree & # 39; s MORE (R-Fla), a Hispanic lawmaker, said the same day on MSNBC that he would never vote for someone like King.

"His comments and actions are disgusting," said Curbelo, who faces a tough battle for reelection in a highly Hispanic district of South Florida.

The ADL and Curbelo conviction follows announcements from several companies – including Intel, Purina Petcare and Land O & # 39; Lakes – that they were ending the campaign's contributions to King. President of the Republican National Congress Committee (NRCC) Steve StiversSteven (Steve) Ernst StiversElection Countdown: a mid-term week | The battlefield of the house is enlarging | Trump double on immigration | GOP campaign leader reprimands Steve King | The Clinton team calm the 2020 speech | Sanders will not promise to serve the entire Senate mandate Purina abandons his campaign contributions to Steve King, citing "recent statements". Steve King rejects criticism of the GOP campaign leader: "The establishment Never the deceivers are accomplices" MORE also published a rare repudiation of King just one week before polling day.

"Recent comments, actions and retweets by Congressman Steve King are totally inappropriate," tweeted Stivers, a US GOP congressman and a member of Ryan's leadership team. "We must stand up against white supremacy and hatred in all its forms, and I strongly condemn this behavior."

But other senior GOP leaders remained silent about King. Ryan Spokesman, Majority Leader Kevin McCarthyKevin Owen McCarthyTrump is planning an order to end legitimate citizenship. Shots were fired at Florida GOP office while Top Republican was unoccupied, criticized for sharing Pelosi's comments about "collateral damage" after firing MORE (R-Calif.) And the majority whip Steve ScaliseStephen (Steve) Joseph ScaliseDon Lemon: "Right winger & # 39; responsible for shooting a synagogue; "I Do not See Democrats Killing People" The Hill's Morning Report – Presented by PhRMA – Last Line Up In The Middle Of Violence Against Violent Context The Real FBI Has His Man MORE (R-La.) Did not respond to requests for comments.

A GOP official predicted that King would not apologize and that the GOP leaders would not take revenge on King, especially after President TrumpDonald John Trump, activists ask Washington officials to rename the street in front of the Saudi Arabian Embassy after Khashoggi On five occasions of the final debate in the Senate of Indiana, Avenatti said the FBI He had informed that he was targeted by a bomb attack against an email. On several occasions, he called himself a "nationalist" at a campaign rally in Texas last week.

"Is Steve King lacking discipline? Absolutely. Nobody says he's good for the Republican Party, "said a GOP assistant. "But there's something the president has taught in all of this, it's: never apologize. In some ways, King is the proto-Trump. His strategy is to say something. if the left comes to you and hits you above the head with it, double up.

"If you apologize like Megyn Kelly, you're done, because an apology is an admission of guilt."

King's Democratic challenger, J.D. Scholten, said he appreciated comments by Curbelo and Stivers.

"I do not think it shows a lot of leadership by continuing to allow that to happen," Scholten said in a phone interview with The Hill. "That's why I thought the Stivers representative was so important and it's important that it come from the NRCC president."

Scholten said it was incumbent on every Republican to choose to talk about King but that the outgoing president had crossed a "threshold".

"It's something that, in my opinion, is obvious, but it's up to them to decide whether they want to comment on it or not," he said.

King, a member of Congress since 2003 and chairman of the House's Judicial Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice, has already been criticized for what many see as racist comments and positions.

Former president John BoehnerJohn Andrew BoehnerMore Veterans in Congress Will Mean Greater Representation Of Our Veterinarians Houston Chronicle Approves Beto O 'Rourke In The Texas Senate Race The Hill's 12:30 Report – Presented By Citi – House postpones Rosenstein meeting | Trump hits Dems on Medicare for all | Hurricane Michael approaches the landing PLUS (R-Ohio) publicly denounced King at a press conference in 2013 after the conservative Iowa had stated that undocumented immigrants had "calf-sized calf" carrying drugs in the desert.

In private, BoehnerJohn Andrew BoehnerMore Veterans in Congress Will Mean Greater Representation Of Our Veterinarians Houston Chronicle Approves Beto O 'Rourke In The Texas Senate Race The Hill's 12:30 Report – Presented By Citi – House postpones Rosenstein meeting | Trump hits Dems on Medicare for all | Hurricane Michael approaches the landing PLUS called king an "asshole", according to a legislator.

But King's latest comments and actions have sparked increased interest since Saturday's shootout, which left 11 dead and many injured in Pittsburgh's Tree of Life synagogue.

In mid-October, King approved a white nationalist candidate for Toronto mayor, Faith Goldy, who promoted a 1930s book calling for the "extermination of Jews" and attended the gathering of white nationalists in Charlottesville. , Virginia year. King also granted an interview in August to a website associated with an Austrian far-right party founded by a former Nazi SS officer.

King defended his association with the Austrian group, telling the Washington Post this weekend that members of the group "would be Republicans" if they were in the United States.

Following Stivers' comments on Tuesday, King responded by saying that the attacks against him were "orchestrated by unpleasant, desperate and dishonest false news".

"Their ultimate goal is to return the House and remove Donald Trump," King said. "Establishment Never Trumpers is complicit."

King's campaign on Wednesday sent The Hill back to the statement and did not respond to requests for talks with the congressman.

King's 4th district, in northwestern Iowa, won double-digit Trump in 2016, but his run for re-election seems to have become more competitive in recent days.

A survey conducted by Democratic Change Research firm on October 27 and 29 revealed that King had only one point advantage. And Cook's non-political political report released on Tuesday changed his race ranking from "likely Republican" to "lean Republican".

Cook House editor Dave Wasserman noted on Twitter that Scholten had spent $ 1.4 million on ads in the last two weeks and was receiving $ 300,000 in air support from a great King-wrenching PAC. like "Klan and neo-Nazis approved".

King, meanwhile, has not yet released any ads. And some Republicans have taken Stivers' tweet to warn GOP donors to stay away.

"Stivers represents the GOP device. This has been a signal for donors and super PACs to back down, "said the GOP senior assistant.

Kyle Kondik, director of Sabato's Crystal Ball, said his group planned on Thursday to also change the race's standings so that he would become Republican leaned.

"Certainly, King has had some tough days," said Kondik. "How does this translate on the ground, I do not know."

Scholten tweeted Wednesday morning that his campaign had raised more than $ 350,000 in just over 24 hours.

"I see the momentum that we have and I am very confident that we are neck and neck for the moment," he told The Hill.

But the king's campaign has been seen in recent days as in a strong position to win.

The campaign released a survey conducted by WPA Intelligence on Tuesday that revealed that the Congressman was 18 points ahead, although it was conducted several days before the Change Research poll.

"Most Iowa voters choose to stick to the proven leadership of Congressman Steve King and reject the unpleasant, desperate and dishonest attacks of his opponent funded by the San Francisco Liberals," the campaign said. in a statement released during the survey.