White Supremacist Congressman Steve King Defeated In Shock GOP Primary

Republicans in at least one place are doing something about a White Supremacist in their ranks. It's a good start with a long way to go. Keep it up GOP. You might earn a little credibility if you do it often enough.

A coalition of GOP figures, seeing King as a liability for the party, had supported the campaign of his opponent, former state Sen. Randy Feenstra.

Steve King, the white supremacist congressman from Iowa, was defeated in a shocking Republican primary Tuesday, bringing an end to the long legislative career of one of Washington’s most explicit bigots.

Former Iowa state Sen. Randy Feenstra defeated King to earn the GOP nomination for Iowa’s 4th Congressional District, according to The New York Times. Feenstra will now face Democrat J.D. Scholten in the general election this November.

“I am truly humbled by the outpouring of support over the past 17 months that made tonight possible and I thank Congressman King for his decades of public service,” Feenstra said in a statement Tuesday night. “As we turn to the General Election, I will remain focused on my plans to deliver results for the families, farmers and communities of Iowa. But first, we must make sure this seat doesn’t land in the hands of Nancy Pelosi and her liberal allies in Congress.”


King spent nine terms in Congress and became notorious for his comments about Latinos, Muslims, Blacks and queer people. While a close ally and supporter of President Donald Trump, King had a falling out with the GOP rank-and-file last year after making remarks condoning white supremacy.

“White nationalist, white supremacist, Western civilization — how did that language become offensive?” King told The New York Times during a January interview about immigration. “Why did I sit in classes teaching me about the merits of our history and our civilization?

 

You'd like to think it's a shocker, but it's really not.

 

One Republican for another isn't anything to get excited about I agree.

 

you're right. the GOP is full of racists. par for the course really

 

You two are too focused on your agenda to even recognize what I meant by my post . . . that republicans were perfectly willing to cut loose a guy whose racist tendencies had become clear to them.

The Republican Party is no more racist than is the Democratic Party. Both have extremists within their membership, unwelcome, but members nonetheless.

 

So when did the republicans in NW Iowa first realize Steve King was a white supremacist? People have been saying pretty much the same thing throughout his many terms in office and using King's own words as evidence. Are republicans in NW Iowa slow? After all, Steve King's actual title is Representative. He is accountable to his constituents and his constituents are accountable to the rest of us.

As my friend Rachel put it:

The broader question is why King lost this year, after many years of racist rhetoric and repulsive controversies. After all, the Republican lawmaker's record of offenses didn't start in 2019. Why did he persevere in GOP politics, enjoying the support of constituents in election after election, up until now?
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I'd have to file that under captain obvious and another straw man. People can be racist. Democrats and Republicans are people. Therefore they likely have some racists in their ranks.

It isn't the percentages of racist in the party ranks, it's how much the party caters to the racists in their ranks on a policy level that really matters. Institutional racism is already baked in to our culture and our government. The degree to which one party wants to use the institutional racism to please their base of racist supporters is where racism crosses over into policy that ultimately defines one party over the other as the true party of racists.