Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, said Wednesday that it’s “tragic” that those killed in Sunday’s massacre in Orlando were targeted because they were gay, and said the victims’ sexual preference in no way diminishes the tragedy.
“I think it was clear that gays were targeted in Orlando and it does matter, and it’s tragic that they were targeted because of their sexual orientation,” King said on CNN.
King opposes same-sex marriage, and criticized the Supreme Court’s ruling on same-sex marriage by saying it means “you could marry your lawnmower.” But after Sunday’s shooting, King said the 49 victims have “equal standing with God” regardless of sexual orientation.
“I’ve talked with hundreds of conservatives on this side of the aisle. No one brings up the fact in any derogatory way or even mentions it to that extent,” King said, referencing Sunday’s victims. “It’s tragic and we’re sorry about that. They are in our prayers as if they were the Christians that were slaughtered in Charleston, South Carolina, some time back.”
Omar Mateen, 29, opened fire at Pulse, a gay nightclub in Orlando early Sunday morning. In addition to the 49 dead, 53 more were injured.
King also criticized political correctness, saying it hurts how the country responds to terrorism threats.
“What about the neighbors? What about the people that should have been watching this? They’re intimidated by political correctness,” he said.
King explained that the people who interacted with Mateen before the shooting and thought something was suspicious about him were “suppressed” because “they thought it was criticism because he was a Muslim.”
“We had an opportunity to engage and we were suppressed because of the political correctness,” King explained. “That’s something Donald Trump has got this right, that if we are suppressed with political correctness to the point where we don’t see something and say something out of fear of being criticized of being some kind of bigot, then America is not as safe as if we had freedom of speech and freedom of conscience.”
King offered his support for presumed Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, while also reiterating his support for former candidate Ted Cruz.
“If the election were today, I would vote for Donald Trump. And I think he’s laid out some good policies that we ought to embrace, one of them is immigration policy,” King said. “I’ve heard him modify his policy on not bringing any more Muslims in the United States, suggesting instead closer to Ted Cruz’s position, which is let’s suspend immigration from terrorist sponsoring countries, at least until we get a handle on this. I think that’s a prudent statement.”
