Iowa Congressman Steve King has been stripped of committee assignments by Republican leaders following his comments on white supremacy and white nationalism during an interview with the New York Times.
"We will not tolerate this type of language in the Republican Party, or in the Democratic Party as well," House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy says. "I watched what Steve King said and we took action."
King fired back with his own response Monday evening. “Leader McCarthy’s decision to remove me from committees is a political decision that ignores the truth."
King says one of his quotes in a New York Times story has been completely mischaracterized. "In a 56 minute interview, we discussed the changing use of language in political discourse. We discussed the worn out label “racist” and my observation that other slanderous labels have been increasingly assigned to Conservatives by the Left, who injected into our current political dialog such terms as Nazi, Fascist, ‘White Nationalist, White Supremacist,— Western Civilization, how did THAT language become offensive? Why did I sit in classes teaching me about the merits of our history and our civilization?’...just to watch Western Civilization become a derogatory term in political discourse today," King pointed out in a statement. "Clearly, I was only referencing Western Civilization classes. No one ever sat in a class listening to the merits of white nationalism and white supremacy."
King says "when I used the word ‘THAT’ it was in reference ONLY to Western Civilization and NOT to any previously stated evil ideology, ALL of which I have denounced. My record as a vocal advocate for Western Civilization is nearly as full as my record in defense of Freedom of Speech."
Ultimately, I told him ‘You have to do what you have to do and I will do what I have to do.’ I will continue to point out the truth and work with all the vigor that I have to represent 4th District Iowans for at least the next two years.”