Iowa congressman Steve King delivered a speech on the House floor Friday pushing back against accusations by the far-left and establishment right that he’s a self-avowed white supremacist.
King’s critics have based this accusation on remarks he made during an interview earlier in the week with The New York Times: “White nationalist, white supremacist, Western civilization — how did that language become offensive?” he reportedly said to the left-wing outlet.
Listen to part one of King’s rebuttal below:
Upon the interview’s publication Thursday, critics on both the left and right promptly pounced, accusing the congressman of being an unrepentant bigot and demanding he be censured.
According to the speech he delivered Friday, the narrative being peddled by his critics is false. He claimed specifically that the words he had said have been taken out of context.
“I want to start this out with some context of that discussion, and that is this: If you can control the language, you can control the policy. Labels have been hurled in this country at people like we have never seen in this history of America,” he explained, citing the abuse of the term “Nazi” as an example.
“Nazi” is injected into Leftist talking points because the worn out & exhausted “racist” is over used & applied to everyone who lacks melanin & who fail to virtue signal at the requisite frequency & decibels. But…Nazis were socialists & Leftists are socialists https://t.co/0SkC2a4Y2l
— Steve King (@SteveKingIA) September 12, 2018
“That’s the foundation for that discussion … and in that also was discussion of other terms that had been used almost always unjustly labeling otherwise innocent people,” King continued.
That’s true. Even Candace Owens, a black political commentator, has been smeared as a “white supremacist” because of her political views, which like King’s views lean heavily to the right.
“The word racist, the word Nazi, the word fascist, the phrase white nationalist, the phrase white supremacist — they even are derogatory towards Western civilization, which is the foundation for the American civilization,” King added, arguing that the left uses these terms to even smear history.
Listen to part two of King’s rebuttal below:
Again he was correct. As noted by renowned conservative commentator Dennis Prager two years ago, “The Left sees everything in terms of race and equates Western civilization with whiteness.”
And it’s a demonstrable fact that many on the left would like to see Western civilization destroyed.
It was these ideas he had been discussing with the Times, the congressman claimed.
“It was about how those words got plugged into our dialogue, not when the words became offensive, which is what the technical interpretation of this is. … It’s how did that offensive language get injected into our political dialogue? Who does that? How does that get done?” he explained.
The congressman spent the rest of the speech condemning white supremacy and nationalism, as well as apologizing for the gross misunderstanding that was caused by his articulateness.
For reasons that remain unclear, few appear to believe him. Even many on the establishment right have called for his condemnation and censuring, including conservative commentator Ben Shapiro.
Look:
Congress ought to vote to censure him, and then he ought to be primaried ASAP. https://t.co/W2qRdWvAjj
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) January 10, 2019
Steve King is a stain on Congress. https://t.co/NUiSaY9Tqu
— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) January 11, 2019
It’s not enough to condemn @SteveKingIA‘s unconscionable, racist remarks. Republican leaders must actively support a worthy primary opponent to defeat King, because he won’t have the decency to resign. https://t.co/MRAMnuJaym
— Jeb Bush (@JebBush) January 11, 2019
These comments are abhorrent and racist and should have no place in our national discourse. Steve King asks how terms ‘white nationalist’ and ‘white supremacist’ became offensive | TheHill https://t.co/yL23avpNFB
— Liz Cheney (@Liz_Cheney) January 10, 2019
I know @SteveKingIA. I served with him in Congress. He’s a strong Conservative. But what he said about white supremacists was terrible. It was racist, plain & simple. He shouldn’t run for re-election.
Besides, he’s been in Congress for 16 years. That’s too damn long.
— Joe Walsh (@WalshFreedom) January 11, 2019
It’s unclear why Shapiro and others like him have never called for the censuring of the unrepentant bigots in the Democrat Party, including Michigan Rep. Rashida Tlaib, Tennessee state House Rep. London Lamar and New York state Sen. Velmanette Montgomery, among many others.
The growing chorus against King has been even louder on the left, where commentators have suggested the congressman’s fervent support for President Donald Trump’s immigration policies — which in reality a majority of Americans support — means Trump and the whole GOP are bigoted.
“The GOP is where it is today because the party chose to go down this road, playing to racists and xenophobes, demonizing immigrants, allowing a manufactured crisis at the border to shut down our government,” CNN commentator Don Lemon, a known anti-white racist, bellowed Friday.
“When you do that, what you get is someone like Congressman King, someone who feels emboldened to use language that’s not a dog whistle. It’s straight-up hateful.”
Listen to part one of his remarks below:
It’s unclear how the left and right’s interpretation of King’s words — which the congressman has alleged is false — is any less hateful and bigoted than Lemon’s own words and behavior.
The host laughed last October as his guests labeled black rapper Kanye West a “token negro.” Later that same month he accused white men of being the “biggest terror threat in this country.”
Listen to part two of his remarks below:
It’s also unclear why everybody appears to be so riled up by King’s alleged bigotry — which he’s attempted to account for with an apology — yet have no interest in calling out, condemning and/or censuring the bigotry of the far-leftists in both media and the Democrat Party.
Correction: The bigotry of the far-leftists in both media and the Democrat Party who have never once apologized or even tried to explain away their clear-cut bigotry and racism.
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V. Saxena is a staff writer for BizPac Review with a decade of experience as a professional writer, and a lifetime of experience as an avid news junkie. He holds a degree in computer technology from Purdue University.
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