GOP Almost Possibly Thinking About Being Concerned By Steve King Saying Nazi Talk
We told you yesterday how Iowa Rep. Steve King went full Nazi (again, some more) during an interview with the New York Times, wondering out loud why everyone suddenly thought "white supremacist" was a bad thing. We imagine he's probably also concerned about the all the colored people using his drinking fountains, but don't quote us on that, because we're sure Steve King will also say that out loud someday if he feels the need to.
The inevitable backlash was bad enough that King is now on the defensive.
"I reject white nationalism. I reject white supremacy. It's not part of any of my ideology. I reject anyone who carries that ideology," the Iowa Republican told NBC News in his Capitol Hill office.
Wow, RINO! Next thing you know King is gonna start calling bigots "deplorables."
Please remember that in the distant past of literally yesterday, King was quoted in the Times as saying the following toxic crap:
"White nationalist, white supremacist, Western civilization — how did that language become offensive?" Mr. King said. "Why did I sit in classes teaching me about the merits of our history and our civilization?"
King is attempting to pretend he never said "white nationalist" or "white supremacist." He was just politely dog-whistling "Dixie" about the glories of "Western civilization," which can include people of all races, even the subhuman ones.
"I will accept this idea that I've supported Western civilization for a long time and that's the foundation of the American civilization but 'American' means people of all races, all ethnicities, all national origins and we're pretty proud of that," King said.
This spin would be slightly more effective if we didn't have a public record of the other one million times King has said something racist. For instance, he clearly does equate "Western civilization" with whiteness, and said as much during the Republican National Convention in 2016.
KING: "This 'old white people' business does get a little tired... I'd ask you to go back through history and figure out, where are these contributions that have been made by these other categories of people that you're talking about, where did any other subgroup of people contribute more to civilization?"
Well hallelujah, we can report that Republicans are (at last) starting to notice that the guy they've welcomed in their caucus for years is a repulsive racist. You'd think they would have caught on when David Duke tweeted praise for King, or when he said the thing about Mexicans having "cantaloupe calves," or when he finished a trip to Auschwitz by sitting for an interview with a publication historically tied to literal Nazis, but nope.
Liz Cheney, who is very woke, rebuked King's comments Thursday morning.
These comments are abhorrent and racist and should have no place in our national discourse. Steve King asks how… https://t.co/Ut6RSo9Cn4— Liz Cheney (@Liz Cheney) 1547146732.0
House Minority Whip Steve Scalise wagged a finger at King, and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy denounced King like he was some common Democrat.
"Everything about white supremacy and white nationalism goes against who we are as a nation," McCarthy said. "Steve's language is reckless, wrong, and has no place in our society. The Declaration of Independence states that 'all men are created equal.' That is a fact. It is self-evident."
To be fair, Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence, was himself a white supremacist and owned around 600 slaves. King does not have any slaves that we know of.
McCarthy was in a tight spot because just last week he thought he'd received a gift-wrapped opportunity to drag Democrats after Rep. Rashida Tlaib used the word "motherfucker" in reference to documented motherfucker Donald Trump. McCarthy spoke solemnly about how the GOP was a party opposed to foul language. But if you don't want to hear F-bombs during the family hour, you probably also don't want to endure white supremacist screeds. King's comments were far more obscene in content than Tlaib's brief audition for a cameo in a
Tarantino film.
Unemployed Green Bay Packers fan Scott Walker seized on "motherfucker-gate" to absurdly claim that Democrats are "filled with anger and hate," and that because of that, Trump will get re-elected. A few days later, a member of his own party was embracing ideologies more demonstrative of "anger and hate" than a freshman congresswoman expressing her appreciation for the lyrical bluntness of the Wu-Tang Clan.
Donald Trump even took a break from torturing federal employees to blast Tlaib. He insisted her "disgraceful" language dishonored not just herself but her whole family, like she was a failed Klingon warrior. He's not yet commented on King's remarks, nor will he ever because he wasn't personally insulted and he's also a racist.
Republicans probably sincerely want to get rid of King, if only for his terrible habit of saying the quiet parts loud. Iowa state GOP senator Randy Feenstra is challenging him in the 2020 primary, and GOP Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds refuses to endorse King. This will prove a true test for the party because if Iowa Republicans choose the racist conservative asshole over the just plain conservative assshole, they might live up to that "deplorable" label.
[NBC News]
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Stephen Robinson is a writer and social kibbitzer based in Portland, Oregon. He writes make believe for Cafe Nordo, an immersive theatre space in Seattle. Once, he wrote a novel called “Mahogany Slade,” which you should read or at least buy. He's also on the board of the Portland Playhouse theatre. His son describes him as a “play typer guy."
