RWNJ Iowa Congressman: We Can’t Build A Culture ‘With Somebody Else’s Babies’ (TWEETS)

By
Darrell Lucus
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There are a lot of loathsome characters in the House Republican caucus. But ever since coming to Washington in 2003, Steve King has been one of the most loathsome characters in that bunch. The bomb-thrower from western Iowa is best known for trying to derail the effort to put Harriet Tubman on the $20 bill, and for suggesting that whites are the only race to have really contributed to civilization. But on Sunday afternoon, King may have outdone himself. He declared that it was not possible to build a society with babies who aren’t born here.

King has longstanding ties to far-right and xenophobic elements in Europe. He is a particularly strong supporter of Geert Wilders, one of Europe’s loudest Islamophobes and xenophobes. It apparently motivated him to chime in with his own thoughts after “Voice of Europe,” a far-right social media outfit, tweeted this cartoon supporting Wilders.

https://twitter.com/v_of_europe/status/840724494113206272

“Turkijerel” refers to protests that erupted in Rotterdam after the Dutch government refused to let Turkish ministers speak there out of concerns that they would interfere in the upcoming Dutch elections. As you can see, the cartoon portrays Wilders as sticking a finger in the dike to stop the flood of Islam from overwhelming Europe. Wilders has long called for a ban on Muslim immigration to the Netherlands, and has even suggested that Muslims who already live in the Netherlands should be paid to leave.

Within a few hours, King responded with this.

The phrase “somebody else’s babies” is commonly used by white nationalists to suggest that this country doesn’t need to open its doors to nearly as many Latinos and Muslims. Additionally, the sentiment is very similar to what King expressed last summer. It should also be noted that King has been one of the strongest proponents of striking out the birthright citizenship provision of the 14th Amendment. This would make it easier to deny citizenship to children of undocumented immigrants–but would also create a moral and logistical nightmare.

The criticism came in fast and hard–but mostly from Democrats at first.

For awhile, it looked like the only Republican to speak out against this bilge was Minnesota state representative Pat Garofalo.

https://twitter.com/PatGarofalo/status/840999318442135552

It took some prodding from Evan McMullin to get the other side of the aisle to take off the blinders.

But eventually, some Repubs grew a spine.

But believe it or not, there are actually people speaking up in support of King. Namely, David Duke.

When an unrepentant racist and former Grand Wizard is the only one supporting you, that’s very telling.

Fortunately, there’s a way to hold King to account for his bigotry. It turns out that his district is very winnable on paper; even with Iowa swinging hard to Trump in 2016, King’s district only has a Cook Partisan Voting Index of R+4. King’s opponent in 2016, Kim Weaver, has hinted that she is willing to seek a rematch in 2018 if she has enough in the bank.

Well, let’s help her along. If we can at least keep King tied down in Iowa in 2018, it will be worth it. Anything to hold this knuckle-dragger to account.

(featured image courtesy Gage Skidmore, available under a Creative Commons BY-SA license)

Darrell Lucus
Darrell is a 30-something graduate of the University of North Carolina who considers himself a journalist of the old school. An attempt to turn him into a member of the religious right in college only succeeded in turning him into the religious right's worst nightmare--a charismatic Christian who is an unapologetic liberal. His desire to stand up for those who have been scared into silence only increased when he survived an abusive three-year marriage. You may know him on Daily Kos as Christian Dem in NC. Follow him on Twitter @DarrellLucus or connect with him on Facebook. Click here to buy Darrell a Mello Yello.

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