Steve King's Iowa district is very, very rural and very, very red. The PVI is R+11 and Trump beat Hillary there 60.9% to 33.5%, significantly outpolling both McCain (50.2%) and Romney (53.4%). Usually King wins in a walk and doesn't even campaign much. This past November, though, he nearly lost, first time candidate and progressive baseball player J.D. Scholten holding him to 50.4%, his smallest win number ever. If only the DCCC hadn't decided J.D. was too progressive for Congress and decided to spend zero on his campaign, while telling national unions and Democratic institutional donors not to give him any money...I had dinner with J.D. last week and I don't think he's made up his mind about running for the IA-04 House seat again. He may. Or he may run for the Iowa Senate seat currently occupied by Trump-enabler Joni Ernst. Remember, if J.D. could do so well in an R+11 district, how well would he do in an R+3 state with a swingy political history? That said, though, over the weekend, the Des Moines Register noted that even Republicans seem to have had it with King's unbridled racism. And that includes both Ernst and Grassley, both of whom usually support and enable King.
The growing backlash follows an interview with the New York Times earlier this week in which King, who represents Iowa's 4th District, lamented why terms like "white nationalist" and "white supremacist" are offensive.King attempted to clarify the statements. He issued a release denouncing white nationalism and white supremacy and took to the House floor Friday to address the matter, which he called "a freshman mistake."But backtracking hasn't slowed the blowback."I condemn Rep. Steve King’s comments on white supremacy; they are offensive and racist-- and not representative of our state of Iowa," Sen. Joni Ernst tweeted Saturday. "We are a great nation and this divisiveness is hurting everyone. We cannot continue down this path if we want to continue to be a great nation."Ernst also linked to a Washington Post op-ed from Sen. Tim Scott in which the South Carolina Republican pulled no punches addressing King's history of racially-charged rhetoric and the lack of action by his party to curb it."King’s comments are not conservative views but separate views that should be ridiculed at every turn possible," Scott wrote in the piece.Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley echoed the remarks from Ernst and Scott on Saturday while speaking with a pair of reporters from Axios.“I find it offensive to claim white supremacy. I will condemn it," Grassley reportedly said.Both senators have offered King support in the past or campaigned with him. Shortly before the 2018 election, King released of video of Grassley in which Iowa's senior senator called King an "ally" who he needed in the House.After the election, Grassley distanced himself from King but did not repudiate him.Two Iowans this week announced plans to primary King ahead of the 2020 election. One of them, state Sen. Randy Feenstra of Hull, has come out swinging. [Note: Feenstra is an obsessed and deranged homophobic maniac, nearly as bad, in some ways, as King.]"Our current representative’s caustic nature has left us without a seat at the table," Feenstra said on Twitter. "We don’t need any more sideshows or distractions, we need to start winning for Iowa’s families."The other Republican challenger, Bret Richards of Irwin, said in an interview with the Des Moines Register about the contrasts between himself and King: “I know who I am. I know I won’t embarrass the state.”Iowa officials said they were neutral in the potential primary.Gov. Kim Reynolds issued an ultimatum to King after the election and has said she will stay out of the primary battle but appeared with the Kiron representative during her campaign.Former 2016 presidential candidate Jeb Bush wrote on Twitter that “Republican leaders must actively support a worthy primary opponent to defeat King because he won’t have the decency to resign.”Longtime King supporter Bob Vander Plaats, a former Iowa gubernatorial candidate and president of The Family Leader, a conservative political organization, also rebuked the 16-year congressman.
On Face the Nation yesterday, the House Minority's greasy lying Leader, Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), told Margaret Brennan that he will meet with King today to talk with him about his racist problem. McCarthy, of course, can't open his mouth without trying to mislead people-- he is a Republican politician in the age of Trump-- but if you access the interview at the 5:40 mark you'll hear him tap-dancing around what he plans to do about King... almost blaming Pelosi!UPDATE: McConnell Slams KingRepublicans are embarrassed-- and it's a lot less risky to take it out on Steve King than on Señor Trumpanzee. McConnell, the Senate Majority Leader, said there is "no place in the Republican Party, the Congress or the country for an ideology of racial supremacy of any kind... I have no tolerance for such positions and those who espouse these views are not supporters of American ideals and freedoms. Rep. King’s statements are unwelcome and unworthy of his elected position. If he doesn’t understand why 'white supremacy' is offensive, he should find another line of work."
