Sen. Mitt Romney declared in no uncertain terms Monday that Rep. Steve King should resign for his comments about white supremacy.
“I think he ought to step aside and I think Congress ought to make it very clear he has no place there,” Romney, R-Utah, told CNN.
Romney is the latest prominent GOP lawmaker to join a bipartisan chorus of condemnation of King, R-Iowa, after he spoke with the New York Times last week and asked why the phrases “white nationalist” and “white supremacist” have become “offensive.”
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., issued a stern rebuke of King earlier in the day, saying, “If he doesn’t understand why ‘white supremacy’ is offensive, he should find another line of work.”
King has backtracked on his comments amid intensifying backlash. “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 told NBC News.
While debate about King’s future in the Republican Party and Congress plays out this week, including possible censure, President Trump has been mum on the issue. “I don’t — I haven’t been following it. I really haven’t been following it,” he said Monday when asked by reporters at the White House.
