Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, is pressuring House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., to reinstate his committee assignments after the Iowa Republican made comments in a New York Times interview appearing to support white supremacy.
King released a letter Tuesday from more than 200 “pro-family leaders” slamming McCarthy for believing “a liberal news organization famous for their bias” over a member of Congress, who they said had served Iowa constituents “honorably” for the last 16 years.
200 pro-family leaders wrote @GOPLeader McCarthy asking him “to do the right thing” & reinstate my committees. They know when the “outrageous misquote” of a biased & liberal NYTimes takes free rein to “falsely brand” Republicans, no conservative is safe . https://t.co/JCOQdrSs2D
— Steve King (@SteveKingIA) February 12, 2019
“Don’t make the fatal mistake of turning the reins of the U.S. Congress over to the liberal media, allowing them to target, misquote, and falsely brand any member of Congress they wish to remove,” the letter, dated Feb. 5, said.
It also demanded McCarthy apologize to King and reinstate his committee assignments.
The letter’s signatories included former Republican House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, anti-Muslim conspiracy theorist Frank Gaffney, and evangelical leader James Dobson.
Republicans revoked King’s committee assignments last month amid an uproar over his comments to the New York Times, in which he asked why phrases such as “white nationalist” and “white supremacist” have become “offensive.” King previously served on the Judiciary and Agriculture committees — the latter of deep importance to King’s Western Iowa district, which is largely rural.
Some Republicans went as far as calling on King to resign from Congress. Some cited his years-long affinity for rightist political figures globally, including the Freedom Party of Austria and a Toronto, Canada white supremacist mayoral candidate.
After King’s comments appeared in the New York Times, he backtracked — somewhat.
“I reject white nationalism. I reject white supremacy. It’s not part of any of my ideology. I reject anyone who carries that ideology,” he said, adding he had been misquoted.
