What It Feels Like When Racist Steve King Is Your Congressman

Congressman Steve King of Iowa has gotten away with his racist, homophobic, and transphobic rhetoric for so long because many of his constituents actually like it, says an activist from his district -- but she adds that it's time for those who don't like it to take action.

"Northwest Iowa is very conservative, and he says a lot of things that conservatives in this district really believe, but they're not the only ones in this district," Karen Mackey, cofounder of the Siouxland Pride Alliance, a grassroots LGBTQ group in Sioux City, told The Advocate Monday.

King, a Republican representing Iowa's Fourth Congressional District, has been a member of the U.S. House since 2003. He's become known for his comments about undocumented immigrants with "calves the size of cantaloupes" because they're hauling huge drug shipments; that same-sex couples are not a "natural family"; that transgender military members would be unable to defend Western civilization; and that only white people are responsible for creating that civilization.

King has now gone too far for even many of his fellow Republicans with an interview he gave The New York Times last week. "White nationalist, white supremacist, Western civilization -- how did that language become offensive?" he said in the interview. "Why did I sit in classes teaching me about the merits of our history and our civilization?" He also said immigrants need to assimilate into "the culture of America," which was created by white people from Europe.

He had to quickly backtrack on the comments, issuing a statement Thursday saying he was a "nationalist," not a white nationalist or white supremacist. "I reject those labels and the evil ideology that they define," he said.

But the damage was done. No less a conservative than Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas called King's original statements "stupid." House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy has said there will be some kind of action against King. Congressman Jason Chaffetz of Utah said King should be removed from the House Judiciary Committee (he was removed from that and the Agriculture Committee Monday evening). Many other Republicans, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Sen. Mitt Romney of Utaha, joined those three in denouncing King, and some Democrats went even further, with Congressman Bobby Rush of Illinois and others planning to issue a resolution to censure King. But Donald Trump has notably not commented on the matter, telling a reporter, "I haven't been following it."

Mackey and other activists in Iowa have been following the congressman's rants for a long time, however. "It continues to be just horrifying," she said. "He has made incredibly racist remarks from the beginning of his time in Congress, but he is getting worse. ... As a Native American lesbian in this district, it's frightening." She's glad to see some Republicans condemning King's rhetoric, but she would like to see the party as a whole do it. At some level, many Republicans seem to like what King says, added Mackey, an enrolled member of the Santee Sioux Tribe of Nebraska.

King narrowly won reelection in November over Democrat J.D. Scholten, and in light of his most recent comments, two Republicans have announced plans to challenge him in the 2020 primary -- state legislator Randy Feenstra and retired businessman Bret Richards. Mackey fears that another Republican would be as bad as King or worse, though.

She further said King has accomplished little for the Fourth District, a large area that covers northwestern Iowa, from the north-central part of the state to the borders with Nebraska, South Dakota, and Minnesota. "We need somebody who'll do things for the district" instead of making it a national laughingstock, she said.

Given that King has been elected nine times, how likely is it that he'll be replaced soon? "One can always hope," Mackey said. "I would hope that people of goodwill in this district will see that it's finally time to retire Mr. King."