While speaking at the Westside Conservative Club, Iowa Congressman Steve King continued to defend anti-abortion laws, even if the woman has been raped. “It’s not the baby’s fault for the sin of the father or the mother,” King said, before taking his speech one too many steps over the line of normal debate.
As reported by the Des Moines Register, King, who’s a staunch Catholic, posed a question which eerily sounded like a quote from The Handmaid’s Tale, “What if we went back through all the family trees and just pulled out anyone who was a product of rape or incest? Would there be any population of the world left if we did that?” King asked. “Considering all the wars and all the rapes and pillages that happened throughout all these different nations, I know that I can’t say that I was not a part of a product of that.”
The 70-year-old republican congressman, representative of Iowa’s 4 District since 2013, who previously served for the state’s 5th District from 2003 to 2013, has a reputation for continuously making extreme right-wing statements, but crediting rape and incest for society’s existence cause a firestorm on Twitter.
King’s Speech Bolstered Supported for Democratic Opponent J.D. Scholten
While many users online were at a loss for words, others were able to clearly articulate why King’s speech was so worrisome, and deeply affecting. Listening to King’s views on abortion, also boosted the opposition party’s supported for Democratic candidate, J.D. Scholten, who’s running against the Republican congressman in 2020.
Nope nope nope, I refuse to read what Steve King just said, I’m gonna instead say, donate to @JDScholten!
There are a million things to say about Steve King’s odious remarks but I kinda want to agree that he wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for incest.
No one:
Literally not a single person in human history:
U.S. Rep. Steve King:
Looks to see what stupid ignorant shit Steve King said this time to make him start trending…
#CantFixStupid
Just a reminder that every Republican presidential candidate coveted Steve King’s endorsement in the last cycle.
King Praised Donald Trump for Being One of the Few Not Calling Him Out as Racist
Kim Reynolds, Lieutenant Governor (R-IA), Left, Terry Branstad, Governor (R-IA), Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA), Jeff Kaufmann, Republican Party of Iowa Chairman, and Rep. Steve King (R-IA)
In addition to defending rape and incest clauses in proposed anti-abortion laws, King made a shout out to President Donald Trump for being one of the few Republicans who didn’t admonish him after the controversial comments he made back in January, in which he asked why “white nationalist” and “white supremacist” were offensive terms. King said, “There’s no signal from Donald Trump that he’s been anything other than supportive of me.”
During his speech on Wednesday, King cited that his words were twisted by The New York Times. “People think it was an organic media feeding frenzy, but no, it was orchestrated from the beginning,” he said. “They had told me, heads up before Christmas, they’re going to try to drive you out of office and get you to resign. Within 24 hours, you had people saying ‘resign, resign, resign.’ Why? Because the New York Times misquoted me?”
While King’s comments had him removed from his House committee assignments, he remained in office, and the congressman clarified that while he doesn’t support the “odious ideology” of white nationalism, he supports the West, and refers to America as “the flagship for Western civilization.”
After King’s speech at Westside Conservative Club, 72-year-old member Rick Herron told the Des Moines Register, “I did get a little better understanding of what he went through, in terms of the ‘Never Trumpers’ attack on him and setting him up for condemnation. You expect the Democrats to attack him, but not the Never Trumpers, members of his own party.”
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