The editorial board of an Iowa newspaper that endorsed Rep. Steve King (R-IA) ahead of the midterms because of his “conservative agenda” published an editorial on Thursday admitting it had made a “mistake” and called on King to resign.
“Unfortunately, King was far from an ideal choice,” the editorial board for The Messenger wrote. “It is now clear that the endorsement we made was a mistake. We should have pondered more carefully King’s pattern of making outrageous statements.”
“Throughout his career, King has made comments that were at the very least insensitive to the role of various minorities in our diverse society,” they continued. “At best, many things he said — and apparently believed — were evidence of great ignorance. It now appears likely that something more severe was involved. It’s hard to read the reports of the comments King has made recently and the individuals and groups he has praised without concluding that he either is a racist or is far too tolerant of those who are.”
“Therefore, King should resign from Congress with no delay,” the editorial board concluded. “That will allow a special election to be held so someone who will not be an embarrassment to our state can be elected. Northwest Iowa needs a new representative in the House as soon as possible.”
The Messenger isn’t the first local newspaper from King’s home state to call for his resignation. Earlier this week, The Des Moines Register published a similar editorial.
King has come under bipartisan fire in recent days after he gave an interview to The New York Times, where he was quoted pondering why terms like “white supremacist” and “white nationalist” were considered offensive.
A day late and a dollar short.
What? Were you out in the cornfields with your heads in gopher holes for the last several years? King has not been reticent about his racism for years.
He’d been doing it for years and no one had a problem with it.
Why now? Seriously.
Did they endorse Trumpy, too?
What’s good for the goose is good for the Dotard.
Yes, you should have.
Saw interviews with three Iowa republican voters this morning. First two wanted him out. The third white guy and his wife said
we all say things we regret sometimes, of course, totally ignoring all the other regrettable statements made by this racist clown in the past.Correction: The last guy said everybody slips, and he doesn’t think King really meant what he said.
He just “slipped.” Uh huh.