Rep. Steve King (R-IA) came under fire on Sunday after he tweeted praise for an anti-Muslim politician and said that “civilization” cannot be restored “with somebody else’s babies.”
Wilders understands that culture and demographics are our destiny. We can’t restore our civilization with somebody else’s babies. https://t.co/4nxLipafWO
— Steve King (@SteveKingIA) March 12, 2017
King was referring to Geert Wilders, an anti-Muslim Dutch politician. The Iowa Republican has associated himself with Wilders before. In September, he tweeted a photo of himself with Wilders and lamented “cultural suicide by demographic transformation.”
The Republican congressman’s tweet was praised by David Duke, a former leader of the Ku Klux Klan:
Just in case you were thinking about moving -> sanity reigns supreme in Iowa’s 4th congressional district.#MakeAmericaGreatAgain https://t.co/RRjTzAzlKw
— David Duke (@DrDavidDuke) March 12, 2017
GOD BLESS STEVE KING!!! #TruthRISING https://t.co/oDFel8JDrP
— David Duke (@DrDavidDuke) March 12, 2017
The Iowa congressman quickly came under fire for the tweet:
Steve King is my colleague. This Tweet is an open endorsement of white nationalism. Shameful. https://t.co/ojBMetwzPE
— David Cicilline (@davidcicilline) March 12, 2017
King is a total ignoramus and no one takes him seriously. He does give off good quotes to outrage people though. https://t.co/tMZf7heR9O
— Howard Dean (@GovHowardDean) March 12, 2017
Rep. Carlos Curbelo (R-FL) asked King to explain his tweet:
.@SteveKingIA What exactly do you mean? Do I qualify as “somebody else’s baby?” #concernedGOPcolleague
— Carlos Curbelo (@carloslcurbelo) March 13, 2017
The Iowa chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations called on Republicans to condemn King’s tweet.
“This racist tweet crosses the line from dog-whistle politics to straight-up White supremacist advocacy, which must be repudiated by state and national GOP leaders,” Miriam Amer, the executive director of CAIR’s Iowa chapter, said in a statement. “King seems to believe that only babies of a particular demographic should be valued as part of America’s culture and destiny.”
The Iowa GOP denounced both King’s tweet and Duke:
INBOX: @kaufmannGOP, chair of @IowaGOP: David Duke isn’t welcome in Iowa. #iapolitics pic.twitter.com/ikJUCAaEi3
— Clay Masters (@Clay_Masters) March 13, 2017
