Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, suggested he would be pleased if liberal Supreme Court Justices Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor would “elope to Cuba” so that Republican lawmakers could nominate more Supreme Court justices.
During a campaign event in Iowa on Monday, King said that after the 2018 midterm elections there was a possibility “we’ll have a 7-2 court” and added that possibly “Kagan and Sotomayor will elope to Cuba,” The Weekly Standard assistant opinion editor Adam Rubenstein reports.
Rep. Steve King just now in Hampton, Iowa, talking about the courts, says after the election maybe “we’ll have a 7-2 court” and maybe we’ll get lucky and “Kagan and Sotomayor will elope to Cuba.”
— Adam Rubenstein (@RubensteinAdam) November 5, 2018
Four of the Supreme Court justices — Kagan, Sotomayor, and Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer — were nominated by Democratic administrations. The other five Supreme Court justices were nominated by Republican administrations.
King has been a controversial figure for his views on immigration and race. Among recent controversies, he refused to delete a retweet from Nazi sympathizer Mark Collett in June and backed a white nationalist Toronto mayoral candidate who appeared on a neo-Nazi podcast last month.
Republicans, including National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Rep. Steve Stivers, R-Ohio, have denounced King’s behavior. Stivers tweeted last week that King’s “recent comments, actions, and retweets are completely inappropriate.”
“We must stand up against white supremacy and hate in all forms, and I strongly condemn this behavior,” Stivers said.
King is running against Democrat J.D. Scholten in the 2018 midterm election on Tuesday.
Editor’s note: The Washington Examiner and The Weekly Standard are owned by the same parent company, Clarity Media Group.
