The Des Moines Register on Monday called Rep. Steve King’s (R-IA) tweet that “civilization” can’t be restored with “somebody else’s babies” an “offensive” and “predictable” remark from a congressman prone to “incendiary observations.”
“If Steve King was your average, garden-variety bigot and was standing on a street corner while spouting his nonsense to passersby, he’d be easy to ignore,” the Des Moines Register’s editorial board wrote. “Unfortunately, King has a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.”
The editorial criticized King’s “distorted view of the world” and said that the record must be set straight when he “says things that are untrue, offensive or wildly irresponsible.”
“He makes outlandish statements that seem intended to generate controversy, knowing they will provide him with a larger platform from which he can spew even more of his incendiary observations,” the editorial board wrote. “King’s words are predictable, but they carry weight only because he is a congressman.”
On Sunday, King tweeted that “civilization” cannot be restored “with somebody else’s babies.”
In the post, he cited Geert Wilders, an anti-Muslim Dutch politician with whom King has previously associated himself. David Duke, a former leader of the Ku Klux Klan, praised the tweet as “sanity.”
King doubled down on his comments on Monday morning, saying that he “meant exactly what I said” in the tweet.
The Des Moines Register’s editorial board wrote that Republican party leaders “wallow in the mud” by supporting King’s re-election campaigns.
“If King’s world view truly doesn’t match that of the Republican Party, then party leaders at both the state and national level need to stand together in supporting an opposing candidate in the 2018 Republican primary,” the board wrote. “Given King’s longstanding record as one of the least effective members of Congress, the GOP should have no difficulty finding a more thoughtful and qualified individual to represent the people of Iowa’s 4th District.”
