Rep. Steve King (R-IA) infamously compared young undocumented immigrants to drug mules last summer, a comment for which House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) branded the tea party congressman an “asshole.”
Boehner strongly denounced King’s remarks, earning praise from Rep. Joaquín Castro (D-TX).
In a piece published Friday for Texas Monthly, Castro recalled his gratitude for the speaker.
On a day not too long after Boehner’s political body check of Steve King for his immigration comments, the speaker was milling around the aisle walkway in the middle section of the House floor where the Democratic and Republican territories meet. Another Texas Democrat and I were standing a few feet away, and as the speaker passed us we thanked him for denouncing King’s offensive comments. He slowed his stride and then paused to turn toward us. “What an asshole,” he said. My thoughts exactly, Mr. Speaker.
King contended that it was unwise to give legal status to undocumented immigrants brought to the United States as children because for “everyone who’s a valedictorian, there’s another 100 out there that weigh 130 pounds and they’ve got calves the size of cantaloupes because they’re hauling 75 pounds of marijuana across the desert.”
