House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy denounced Iowa Rep. Steve King’s recent comments that questioned how much of the world’s population would remain if rape and incest had never happened.
“I have a great deal of problems with that,” McCarthy told Fox News anchor Bret Baier regarding King’s phrasing of his anti-abortion position, adding, “This isn’t the first time I’ve had concerns with what Steve King has said. Earlier in this Congress, there are things that Steve King said that I do not believe the party of Lincoln would stand for. And as a united conference, we actually removed Steve King from his committees inside Congress, and I think this just continues to show why that action was taken.”
King incensed many Wednesday when he argued against abortion in the case of rape or incest by saying, “What if we went back through all the family trees and just pulled out anyone who was a product of rape or incest? Would there be any population of the world left if we did that? Considering all the wars and all the rapes and pillages that happened throughout all these different nations, I know that I can’t say that I was not a part of a product of that.”
Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney, the House’s number-three Republican, also condemned King’s comments, saying it was time for him to be out of office.
Today’s comments by @RepSteveKingIA are appalling and bizarre. As I’ve said before, it’s time for him to go. The people of Iowa’s 4th congressional district deserve better.
— Liz Cheney (@Liz_Cheney) August 14, 2019
In January, McCarthy and other House Republicans voted to remove King from all his committee assignments after he appeared to wonder when “white supremacist” and “white nationalist” became offensive terms in an interview with the New York Times.
