Rep. Steve King, a Republican from Iowa. (Getty)
Rep. Steve King, a Republican from Iowa, is under fire once again after making a controversial comment, this time an anti-Muslim tweet supporting the stance of a far-right European politician.
Wilders understands that culture and demographics are our destiny. We can’t restore our civilization with somebody else’s babies. t.co/4nxLipafWO
It is the latest statement from King to spark outrage, with many saying his tweet is expressing racist and white supremacist views.
King, who represents Iowa’s 4th District, retweeted Voice of Europe, an “anti EU,” “pro Europe,” “MAGA” Twitter account that often tweets anti-Muslim and anti-immigration news. The original tweet shows Dutch far-right politician Geert Wilders plugging a hole in a wall labeled “Western Civilization,” while men behind him hold signs saying “Infidels, Know Your Limits” and “Freedom of Speech Go To Hell.”
The Voice of Europe tweet reads “Hundreds of Islamists shouting ‘Allahu Akbar’ in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Wilders is right for over 10 years. #turkijerel,” is in reference to protests that have erupted in the Netherlands over a feud between that country and Turkey.
In his retweet King wrote, “Wilders understands that culture and demographics are our destiny. We can’t restore our civilization with somebody else’s babies.”
King met with Wilders last year and endorsed him in his run for Dutch prime minister:
@FraukePetry Wishing you successful vote. Cultural suicide by demographic transformation must end. @geertwilderspvv
His tweet was retweeted by white supremacist and former KKK leader David Duke:
King, who was re-elected to an eighth term in the House in November, has previously made comments seeming to support the view that western civilization is at war with Muslims.
Here are five previous comments made by King that sparked controversy:
1. King Asked What Other ‘Subgroups’ Have Contributed to Civilization Other Than Whites
Rep. Steve King shocked his fellow panelists on MSNBC during the Republican National Convention in July 2016 by asking what other “subgroups” than whites and those from the west have contributed to civilization.
His comments came after Charles Pierce of Esquire said, “If you’re really optimistic, you can say this was the last time that old white people would command the Republican Party’s attention, its platform, its public face.”
King said:
This whole ‘old white people’ business does get a little tired, Charlie. I’d ask you to go back through history and figure out where are these contributions that have been made by these other categories of people that you are talking about? Where did any other subgroup of people contribute more to civilization?
MSNBC host Chris Hayes then asked King, “than white people?”
The Iowa Congressman responded, “Than Western civilization itself that’s rooted in Western Europe, Eastern Europe and the United States of America, and every place where the footprint of Christianity settled the world. That’s all of Western civilization.”
King later defended his comments, telling ABC News, “What I really said was ‘Western civilization’ and when you describe Western civilization that can mean much of Western civilization happens to be Caucasians. But we should not apologize for our culture or our civilization.”
King, who defended having a Confederate flag on his desk by saying people don’t understand the real history of the Civil War, told ABC he is particularly focused on contributions made by the United States, which he said has a “superior culture.”
King said, “The contributions that were made by Western civilization itself, and by Americans, by Americans of all races stand far above the rest of the world.”
2. He Called for an Electrified Wall on the Southern Border, Saying ‘We Do This With Livestock All the Time’ & Said DREAMers Have ‘Calves the Size of Cantaloupes’ From Carrying Marijuana
During a 2010 presentation on the House floor, King called for a wall to be built on the U.S. border with Mexico, with barbed wire on the top. He also said the southern border wall should be electrified, “with the kind of current that wouldn’t kill somebody,” but would be a discouragement.
King said, “We do that with livestock all the time.”
He has made several other controversial comments about immigrants, including when speaking out against the DREAM act in 2013.
“For everyone who’s a valedictorian, there’s another 100 out there that–they weigh 130 pounds and they’ve got calves the size of cantaloupes because they’re hauling 75 pounds of marijuana across the desert,” King said. “Those people would be legalized with the same act.”
He said those promoting immigration reform must “define the difference between the innocent ones who have deep ties with America and those who have, I’ll say, been undermining our culture and civilization and profiting from criminal acts. They should not advocate for amnesty for both good and evil.”
King said in 2014 that families “give their daughters birth control and send them down a rape path.”
He blamed the “rape path,” through Mexico to the United States on President Obama, saying he had advertised to families in Central and South America that they should send their children to the U.S.
3. He Said the ‘Greatest Danger to a Black Man in America Is Another Black Man’
(Getty)
In an interview with Buzzfeed News in July 2016, King was asked about the fears black people feel during interactions with police.
He responded, “But you know, you know that statistically the greatest danger to a black man in America is another black man.”
King also told Buzzfeed he agrees with the repudiation of the Black Lives Matter movement by the “Blue Lives Matter” and “All Lives Matter” groups.
“The rest of these lives that matter too are not demonstrating in the streets,” he said, laughing. He said saying “All Lives Matter” is so “utterly obvious it’s kind of redundant to even say it.”
4. He Said the Supreme Court’s Gay Marriage Ruling Means ‘You Can Marry My Lawnmower’
Iowa Rep. Steve King, introducing Huckabee, said gay marriage ruling now means “you can marry my lawnmower.”
While introducing then-presidential candidate Mike Huckabee in 2015, King said the Supreme Court’s gay marriage ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges means “you can marry my lawnmower.”
He made similar comments in an interview with the Dickinson County News.
“Their ruling really says anybody can marry anybody — and eventually it will be in any combination,” King said. “I had a strong, Christian lawyer tell me yesterday that, under this decision that he has read, what it brings about is: It only requires one human being in this relationship — that you could marry your lawnmower with this decision. I think he’s right.”
He also called for civil disobedience to fight the ruling:
I think that it’s time now, if we don’t see the civil disobedience across the country of a nation that rejects this decision just out-of-hand and refuses to comply with it — as we should have when they outlawed prayer in the public school back in 1963 — then our next alternative is to go into the states, state by state, and simply abolish civil marriage. Let the marriage go back to the churches where it began and support it through the churches where we should, and in doing so, we can preserve marriage for what it is rather than what the Supreme Court has decided what it will be.
And he said it’s a fact that children do better in households with a mother and a father:
“It’s a fact of history that children do better in a home with a mom and a dad. There’s no better way to impart our values from one generation to the next than a mother and father who are committed to each other and that are blessed with children in a natural union. The father pours the best of what he has into that and the mother pours the best of what she has into that. The combination that comes out of that for the next generation — at least in theory — is better than the previous generation. They contribute more to society. They’re better behaved, their faith is stronger, their education gets a little better — all of these things are the product of a nuclear family. The civil government got into the business of promoting and supporting Holy Matrimony because these basic values are the building block of our civilization. Now, the Supreme Court has ruled that they’re not.
He also told the newspaper he thinks their will be a ruling coming mandating all churches to perform same-sex marriages, and said Supreme Court justices who have conducted same-sex marriages should have recused themselves.
5. He Said He Hasn’t Heard of Anyone Getting Pregnant by Statutory Rape or Incest in the Wake of Todd Akin’s ‘Legitimate Rape’ Comments
King defended Todd Akin in 2012 after the then-Missouri Congressman’s comments about abortion, in which Akin said pregnancy resulting from rape is rare because, “if it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down.”
In an interview with KMEG-TV, King said he hasn’t heard of anyone getting pregnant from statutory rape or incest.
“Well I just haven’t heard of that being a circumstance that’s been brought to me in any personal way, and I’d be open to discussion about that subject matter,” he said.
King also said that same year that animals have more rights than humans while defending his vote against a bill outlawing dogfighting.
He said liberals have made it so a man can rape a young girl, kidnap her, take her across state lines and force her to have an abortion before dropping her off “at a swingset.”
“That’s not against the law in the United States of America,” he said.
