Rep. Steve King Releases Statement – Debunks New York Times Report and Outrageous Accusations of Racism
On Thursday The New York Times published a hit piece on Rep. Steve King (R-IA) and Trump voters.
Reporter Trip Gabriel published the piece.
“Before Trump, Steve King Set the Agenda for the Wall and Anti-Immigrant Politics”
This quote by Rep. King is what got the most attention. According to reporter Gabriel, Steve reportedly said,
“White nationalist, white supremacist, Western civilization — how did that language become offensive?” Mr. King said. “Why did I sit in classes teaching me about the merits of our history and our civilization?”
Of course, this caused an uproar in Washington and on all of the liberal networks — as you would expect if it were true.
King was lambasted by the media and political class for defending “white supremacy.” Democrats called to remove him from all congressional committees. Republican lawmakers discussed the possibility of disciplinary action. And, of course, Trump-hating Republicans immediately called for Steve to be censured.
Have any of these Republicans called for Rashida Tlaib to be censured for her vulgar and profane attacks on this president?
Rep. King released a statement on Friday:
My statement on the New York Times article. pic.twitter.com/IjBHgZYgRD
— Steve King (@SteveKingIA) January 10, 2019
Rep. King is obviously very upset over The New York Times report. We spoke with Steve on Sunday.
It is safe to say the liberal media and their allies have the story wrong.
On Monday Rep. Steve King released a statement.
The accusations by the media were outrageous and simply incorrect.
Here is Rep. Steve King’s statement.
One of my quotes in a New York Times story has been completely mischaracterized. Here’s the context I believe accurately reflects my statement.
In a 56 minute interview, we discussed the changing use of language in political discourse. We discussed the worn out label “racist” and my observation that other slanderous labels have been increasingly assigned to Conservatives by the Left, who injected into our current political dialog such terms as Nazi, Fascist, “ White Nationalist, White Supremacist,— Western Civilization, how did THAT language become offensive? Why did I sit in classes teaching me about the merits of our history and our civilization?”…just to watch Western Civilization become a derogatory term in political discourse today. Clearly, I was only referencing Western Civilization classes. No one ever sat in a class listening to the merits of white nationalism and white supremacy.
When I used the word “THAT” it was in reference ONLY to Western Civilization and NOT to any previously stated evil ideology ALL of which I have denounced.
My record as a vocal advocate for Western Civilization is nearly as full as my record in defense of Freedom of Speech.
Rep. Steve King NEVER made the statements as reported by the liberal media. The accusations are outrageous. Hopefully, this will clear the good representative and restore some common decency in our explosive political environment.
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