Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, is using the backlash from his comments about white nationalism to raise money for his next campaign.
“The unhinged left has teamed up with Republican ‘NeverTrumpers’ and is pulling out all the stops to destroy me,” King wrote in a campaign email to his supporters, according to the Des Moines Register.
King came under fire for comments he made in a New York Times interview, which were perceived as racist. He was quoted as saying, “White nationalist, white supremacist, Western civilization — how did that language become offensive?”
But King says he was misquoted, and that he was only referring to Western civilization when he asked how that language became offensive. There is no audio of the interview.
In his email, King said the “rabid leftist media” are attacking him because he supports President Trump and his hard-line stances on immigration.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., announced this week that King would be stripped of his committee assignments in the 116th Congress. The House also voted to pass a resolution of disapproval Tuesday that called out King for his comments.
The resolution, instead of directly targeting King, rejected all forms of hateful expression. Only one congressman voted “no” on the resolution, and Rep. Bobby Rush, D-Ill., said he voted that way because the resolution doesn’t go far enough.
