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SIOUX CITY, Iowa – White supremacist Rep. Steve King won a ninth term in Congress on Tuesday night, despite growing months of indignation over his sectarian statements and his links with extremist figures in the United States. 'foreign.
King defeated Democrat J.D. Scholten, a former baseball player and minor league paralegal.
The long-time legislator had scarcely campaigned in the months leading up to polling day, waiting for another dazzling victory in the 4th congressional district of Iowa. In this deeply conservative northwestern state, King is regularly re-elected with more than 20 points.
But one poll last week showed King with only one point ahead of Scholten, thus evoking the possibility of a big Democratic setback in a district that President Donald Trump has raised by 27 points in 2016.
The poll took place in the midst of increased media attention on King's white nationalist views. In October, he endorsed a Toronto mayoral candidate who recited the "14 words", a slogan used by neo-Nazis.
Also in October, HuffPost discovered an interview King gave to an Austrian publication related to neo-Nazis. In this interview, he discussed the conspiracy theory of "Big Replacement" – the belief that immigration, especially from Muslim-majority countries, will mean the extinction of culture and culture. European identity. King also defended the anti-Semitic idea that liberal Jewish billionaire George Soros – a frequent boggart from the far right – could fund the "Great Replacement."
King's long history of sectarianism came to the fore early last week after the death of 11 presidents in a Pittsburgh synagogue by a so-called white supremacist, who believed that Jews were funding the immigration of people of color to United States.
Steve Stivers, representative of Ohio, who chairs the National Republican Congress Committee, issued a reprimand against King after the shooting. "We must stand up against white supremacy and hate in all its forms, and I strongly condemn this behavior," Stivers said in a statement.
Major corporations that have contributed to King's campaigns – including Purina, Land O 'Lakes, Intel, AT & T and Smithfield Foods – have announced that they will no longer financially support the Congressman.
At a candidate forum organized by the Greater Des Moines Partnership, King criticized a resident of Iowa who insisted on the similarity of King's beliefs against immigration and those of the Pittsburgh shooter.
The Anti-Defamation League wrote a letter to the Speaker of the House, Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), Urging him to formally censor King and remove him from the chairmanship of a subcommittee from the room. "In doing so, you are making it clear that his actions were deeply offensive, wrong, and that the US House of Representatives will not tolerate anti-Semitism or sectarianism," wrote Jonathan Greenblatt, ADL President. .
The editorial board of the Sioux City Journal in Iowa, which has repeatedly supported King in previous elections, approved Scholten on Friday. "These are not easy words to write for us," said the jury about his decision.
Meanwhile, Scholten – who had been campaigning for months in a motorhome in the district – benefited from an increase in donations, raising $ 641,000 over a 48-hour period last week.
In a fundraising e-mail, King blamed his campaign problems on an "extremist leftist crowd" who "is completely out of control."
"My opponent is the antithesis (the reverse) of Iowa's values," he added in a tweet. "My record shows that I embody them. Do not let the billion dollar billionaires of the left coast pay in advance and buy your congressman. "
King released his first TV spot on the campaign Friday, just days before the election. It was a recycled ad that he had used in 2014.
This week, King returned to his habit of making fanatic remarks, criticizing the National Republican Congress Committee for supporting a congressional candidate who is gay.
"They sent money to support a candidate in a California primary that had a same-sex partner that they put in icy mailings," King said at a local event. countryside. "It's hard to pay those guys a check when they do it, so I hope we have some Conservative leadership in the House."
Yet the Iowa Republicans came to King's defense on Monday. Senator Chuck Grassley made a statement in support of the Congressman. King was also greeted Monday night by Republican Governor Kim Reynolds at a rally for the Sioux Center's election campaign, in front of a crowd of a few hundred people in favor of Reynolds and other GOP candidates in l & # 39; Iowa.
Reynolds and Republican Senator Joni Ernst smiled and laughed at King and applauded him when he spoke.
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