You might not think that one member of the House of Representatives could single handedly demolish an entire state’s industry, but the famously vile Steve King (R-IA) has managed it.
Congressman King has gained national notoriety for being a huge jerk. His history of spewing ugly comments speaks for itself.
He supports a state bill that would ban the abortion of any fetus with a “detectable heartbeat.” With modern technology, this bill would effectively ban all abortions, since by the time a woman knows she pregnant, the heartbeat can in fact be heard.
He’s a white supremacist who has come right out and called for an all white population of what he calls “Western Civilization.” He’s a big supporter of one of Europe’s most famous bigots, Geert Wilders of the Netherlands. He recently retweeted one of Wilders’ comments, declaring that:
“We can’t restore our civilization with somebody else’s babies.”
David Duke, of KKK fame, thought that was fabulous. The statement uses code language when it says “other people’s babies.” It means, “non-white, non-Christian babies.”
He’s the epitome of the worst in the alt-right, and the people in his state are paying for it.
In the past few weeks, after King’s most recent rants, the state of Iowa has been getting dozens of emails, tweets, calls, Facebook messages and other correspondence from people around the country. Those folks want the state to know that they are changing their vacation plans. They will not be spending their heard earned dollars in the lovely state of Iowa, because they refuse to support a state that would elect a guy like this to office.
Shawna Lode of the Iowa tourism board said that she and her staff had been trying to reassure the callers that all Iowans aren’t as heinous as their representative. She said:
“We’re in a politically charged environment. People have strong opinions about lots of things. They are free to share their thoughts with us, and we’ll continue to say that Iowa is a welcoming place and we welcome all people.”
State officials say that the loss of tourism dollars will likely hit many businesses in the state, including restaurants, hotels and other retail outlets. The area that sent the racist rep to Washington is particularly vulnerable, as you can imagine.
It probably won’t be a big surprise to hear that neither King nor anyone in his office had any response when they were asked about how badly he’s damaging his own state.
Maybe his staff is too busy trying to make him keep his mouth shut.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MlJxwpOhdgM
Featured image by Phil Roeder via Flickr. (CC BY 2.0)
