Rep. Steve King (R-IA) told Iowans yesterday that if Romney-Ryan wins in November, he’s going to have a direct line to the top.
“I’m going to work to put my good friend Paul Ryan in as vice president and we’re going to have a strong voice from Iowa right there in the West Wing and sometimes in the Oval Office of the White House,” King told a crowd at the Iowa State Fair Wednesday. “Your voice will be heard in Washington, D.C. And Iowans will lead with our values, our work ethic, for the rest of the country.”
This isn’t the first time King has said he has Ryan’s ear.
“Paul listens to me,” King told the Washington Post this week.
King suggested at the state fair that the GOP presidential ticket is already coming to him for advice.
“They come and ask me now, ‘What do they think in the Midwest?'” he told the crowd. “That’s because they know you lead. We’re going to continue to lead and we’re going to do this two years from now, four years from now, on and beyond until America is back together again and we have restored our American dream and restored our values of American exceptionalism.”
King is among the most controversial members of the House GOP. On immigration in particular, King is considered among the furthest-right politicians. In June, he promised to single-handedly defeat President Obama’s policy implementing parts of the DREAM Act in court. Earlier this month, he led the charge on a Republican legislative push to ban non-English government communications. In the past he’s warned that Islamic terrorist groups are using America’s southern border to smuggle terrorists into the country.
Should King be as close to the Romney-Ryan ticket as he claims, it would likely be another nail in the coffin for Romney’s outreach to Hispanic voters, who advocates say are outraged by Romney’s reliance on other anti-immigration voices like Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach.
Here’s King at the Iowa state fair, as captured by the Democratic tracking group American Bridge:
Local reports say King drew a large crowd at the state fair consisting of supporters as well as vocal detractors.
