Steve King Thinks Everyone Owes Him An Apology For His Rape, Incest Remarks

WASHINGTON, DC - OCTOBER 26: Rep. Steve King (R-IA) questions witnesses during a House Judiciary Committee hearing concerning the oversight of the U.S. refugee admissions program, on Capitol Hill, October 26, 2017 in... WASHINGTON, DC - OCTOBER 26: Rep. Steve King (R-IA) questions witnesses during a House Judiciary Committee hearing concerning the oversight of the U.S. refugee admissions program, on Capitol Hill, October 26, 2017 in Washington, DC. The Trump administration is expected to set the fiscal year 2018 refugee ceiling at 45,000, down from the previous ceiling at 50,000. It would be the lowest refugee ceiling since Congress passed the Refugee Act of 1980. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images) MORE LESS
Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

Don’t expect an apology from Rep. Steve King (R-IA) anytime soon — in fact, he thinks he is owed one.

After receiving backlash for his remarks last week when he wondered aloud if there’d any population left without rape and incest, King continued to stand his ground Saturday at a town hall when he blamed the controversy on a misquote, according to Des Moines-based station WHO-TV.

King specifically took aim at the Des Moines Register, which broke the news of his derisive remark, and the Associated Press for its reporting on it.

“Iowans are significantly more positive than they are negative, and they know it’s a misquote, and they know that the AP has, I’ll say, retracted the quote that they initially used because they relied on the Des Moines Register, who did the same,” King said, according to WHO-TV.

King then demanded that the media and the Republican leaders who criticized him for his remark apologize.

“And so, when we have a national, viral attack that comes out on a misquote, and it’s absolutely proven, all the folks that did that attack, I think they owe me an apology, including my own leadership,” King said.

The Washington Post noted that The Des Moines Register corrected another quote that it ran on King’s remarks, but that his rape and incest remarks were reported accurately.

Shortly after King made his disturbing remarks Wednesday, Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) called on the congressman to resign, a move that would be detrimental to Democrats hoping to flip the seat. King’s rich history of making controversial comments already got him kicked off his committee assignments in the House earlier this year.

MSNBC had trouble last Thursday trying to find someone in King’s home district to defend his latest remarks.

Latest News

Notable Replies

  1. Avatar for erik_t erik_t says:

    Steve King demands to be taken seriously, world rolls eyes. Sad.

  2. If he was misquoted, what did he say? Did he tell us?

    No.

    Do you believe him?

    Neither do I.

  3. …I thought that women’s bodies had ways to shut down that whole pregnancy risk thing when it was legitimate rape, so aren’t King’s comments off-base anyways?

Continue the discussion at forums.talkingpointsmemo.com

75 more replies

Participants

Avatar for ajm Avatar for dr_coyote Avatar for zandru Avatar for krusher Avatar for george_spiggott Avatar for ralph_vonholst Avatar for lastroth Avatar for midnight_rambler Avatar for longtimeobserver Avatar for kitty Avatar for schmed Avatar for benthere Avatar for thunderclapnewman Avatar for texastwostep Avatar for jinnj Avatar for jonney_5 Avatar for daulphin Avatar for dommyluc Avatar for tsp Avatar for matthew_tanner Avatar for birdford Avatar for demosthenes59 Avatar for krux Avatar for occamscoin

Continue Discussion
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Associate Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: