15 Jan 2019 Black Conservatives Castigate Rep. King for Controversial Comment
Congressman Steve King no longer has any committee assignments. He has an aggressive primary challenger already running against him in the 2020 election. He is politically isolated. He is a conservative lawmaker who embraced fiery racial rhetoric, and his colleagues are dealing with his inappropriate behavior.
Members of the National Center’s Project 21 black leadership network applaud conservative lawmakers’ reactions to King’s comment, calling what King said “antithetical to the American ideal” of equality.
In an interview last week, King asked a New York Times reporter: “White nationalist, white supremacist, Western civilization — how did that language become offensive?”
Retribution was swift. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, who leads King’s caucus, said: “It is definitely not American. All people are created equal in America, and we want to take a very strong stance about that.” Senator Tim Scott, who took exception to King in a Washington Post commentary, pointed out that King’s comment “damage[s] not only… the conservative brand but also our nation as a whole.”
The Republican Steering Committee has since voted unanimously to strip King of all committee assignments in the current session of Congress. King previously served on the Agriculture, Judiciary and Small Business committees.
Project 21 member Christopher Arps, a political consultant and talk radio host, said:
I applaud and wholeheartedly support the removal of Congressman Steve King from his committee assignments.
There must be zero tolerance within any political party – or in the Congress – for racists who proudly espouse viewpoints which are antithetical to the American ideal that all people are created equal and have a divine right to pursue happiness and their individual concept of the American dream.
Deroy Murdock, a Project 21 member who is also a contributing editor for National Review Online and a Fox News Channel contributor, added:
Congressman Steve King recently wondered out loud why people have problems with the terms “white supremacy” and “white nationalism.”
Well, for starters, conservatives do not believe that whites are superior, nor are blacks, nor are Hispanics, nor anyone else. Like our Founding Fathers, we find it self-evident that we are all created equal and enjoy equal justice under law. Also, America is not a white nation. We are a nation of many hues united as the American people. We are immeasurably fortunate to be citizens of a country where we enjoy life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness – no matter our color.
King should know this by now. If he knows so, he should say so. And if he doesn’t, he should sit down, shut up and read up on America’s basic civic virtues, among which you will not find white supremacy or white nationalism.