GOP Rep Steve King Facing Calls To Resign As Chaos Over Controversial Remarks Escalates


Republican Congressman Steve King of Iowa is continuing to face backlash after his latest incident of using controversial language that sparked outrage across the nation. King has been notorious for years for tossing out racially-charged soundbites, but he still won re-election in Iowa last November. Now, however, it looks as if things may be changing.

As the Inquisitr recently detailed, King has been removed from his committee assignments within the House of Representatives, a move he lashed out against. The removal was led by House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and came after the Iowa congressman did an interview with the New York Times that caused an uproar.

King has said that the comments causing waves were taken out of context. However, the interview with the NYT was just the latest in a lengthy history the Iowa Republican has generated of racist or racially-charged comments.

Now, King isn’t just facing criticism from his colleagues in Washington, D.C. The Des Moines Register in his home state of Iowa has now published an editorial calling for the congressman’s resignation.

“Congressman Steve King should resign. He has lost even the potential to effectively represent his Iowa constituents because of his abhorrent comments about white nationalism and white supremacy.”

The Iowa paper notes that King has a pattern of avoiding the opportunity to do town halls with his consitutents. Instead, they allege, he has frequently taken his time away from Washington to travel and connect with Europeans holding similar viewpoints.

“King spent many congressional breaks globe-trotting to Europe and hobnobbing with hard-right, nationalist leaders. These meetings apparently served to reinforce his own warped views of cultural purity and immigration.”

The Register added that they feel King has made Iowa a “laughing stock on the national stage” with his past racist comments. They detail that they don’t make this resignation suggestion carelessly or as a result of partisan influences. They even praised him for starting his new term by announcing town-hall meetings in each of his district’s counties.

The Washington Examiner notes that the Des Moines Register is the state’s largest newspaper. However, they aren’t the only Iowa print publication denouncing King’s recent remarks. In addition, the Sioux City Journal, said to be the largest newspaper specifically within King’s district, has also published an editorial urging the congressman to resign.

“It’s time for Steve King to go. He should resign his seat in the U.S. House. A new election should be held for voters in Iowa’s 4th Congressional District to choose a replacement.”

Ballotpedia details that King was first elected to Congress in 2002. Prior to that, he was a member of the Iowa State Senate for six years. In the past, King typically won his district handily. However, he faced a tougher battle in the 2018 midterms. He faced Democratic candidate J.D. Scholten and beat him by just over three points.

So far, there is no sign that King is planning to resign from his congressional seat. These latest controversial comments are not the first remarks like this he has made, and he generally receives little pushback from his GOP colleagues for his statements. However, it does seem that the tide is turning somewhat.

Will this shift be enough to push Rep. Steve King out the door of Congress? It doesn’t look as if that’ll be the case, but the nation is watching to see what comes next.

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