House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said Sunday he will meet with Rep. Steve King to discuss the Iowa Republican’s future in the party after King publicly questioned why talking about white supremacy and white nationalism was so controversial.
“That language has no place in America. That is not the America I know and it’s most definitely not the party of Lincoln,” the California Republican said during an interview on CBS News’ “Face the Nation.” “I have a scheduled meeting with him on Monday and I will tell you this: I have watched on the other side that they don’t take action when their members say something like this. Action will be taken. I am having a serious conversation with Congressman Steve King on his future and role in this Republican Party.”
McCarthy, however, did not provide details when pressed on what steps would be taken against King, who narrowly won a ninth term in Congress in November and last week drew a primary opponent, GOP state Sen. Randy Feenstra, ahead of his 2020 re-election bid.
“I will not stand back as a leader of this party, believing in this nation that all are created equal, that that stands or continues to stand, and has any role with us,” McCarthy said.
[Related: Liz Cheney pans Steve King comments as ‘abhorrent and racist’]
In a recent interview with the New York Times, King questioned why words such as “white nationalist” are considered racist. “Why did I sit in classes teaching me about the merits of our history and our civilization?” King said to the newspaper.
The remarks earned King a wave of sharp rebukes from fellow Republicans, including former Republican Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, GOP Conference Chairwoman Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, and Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas.
This isn’t King’s first brush with controversy regarding comments made about race. Shortly before his 2018 re-election victory, he refused to delete a retweeted Twitter post about “Satan” George Soros, which critics took as anti-Semitic, especially after last year’s fatal shooting at a synagogue in Pittsburgh.
In seeking to clarify what he told the New York Times, King condemned the paper on Thursday for suggesting he was an advocate for an “evil and bigoted ideology.”
“It’s true that like the Founding Fathers I am an advocate for Western Civilization’s values, and that I profoundly believe that America is the greatest tangible expression of these ideals the World has ever seen,” he wrote in a statement. “Under any fair political definition, I am simply a Nationalist. America’s values are expressed in our founding documents, they are attainable by everyone and we take pride that people of all races, religions, and creeds from around the globe aspire to achieve them. I am dedicated to keeping America this way.”
King said Friday that he didn’t expect blowback from Republican leaders in Washington or Iowa after he claimed to have initiated a conversation with House Minority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La., to discuss the matter and update leadership on how he planned to handle the controversy. On the same day King also delivered a floor speech defending his record on race and immigration.
[Opinion: Republicans, we need to confront every instance of racism, inside our party and out]
