Only two months after being elected, Iowa GOP Representative Steve King already has a challenger for 2020, and it’s from his own party. King squeaked by in 2018 to retain his seat, but as he courts more controversy a Republican has decided to take him on (watch above). This comes after The New York Times reports on his latest racist comments:
Mr. King, in the interview, said he was not a racist. He pointed to his Twitter timeline showing him greeting Iowans of all races and religions in his Washington office. (The same office once displayed a Confederate flag on his desk.)
At the same time, he said, he supports immigrants who enter the country legally and fully assimilate because what matters more than race is “the culture of America” based on values brought to the United States by whites from Europe.
“White nationalist, white supremacist, Western civilization — how did that language become offensive?” Mr. King said. “Why did I sit in classes teaching me about the merits of our history and our civilization?”
Huffington Post writes about King’s challenger stating:
Iowa state Sen. Randy Feenstra announced Wednesday that he will challenge King in the race to represent Iowa’s 4th Congressional District in the House of Representatives.
“Today, Iowa’s 4th District doesn’t have a voice in Washington, because our current representative’s caustic nature has left us without a seat at the table,” Feenstra said in a statement announcing his candidacy. “We don’t need any more sideshows or distractions, we need to start winning for Iowa’s families.”
Feenstra, a former emergency medical technician, is currently in his third term in the Iowa state Senate, where he serves as assistant majority leader.
And more bad news for King’s future campaign.
Iowa Gov @KimReynoldsIA (R) WON'T endorse Rep @SteveKingIA in 2020 #IA04 primary. In 2018 he beat his Dem opponent by 3 points in a seat Trump won by 27.
"The last election was a wake-up call for it to be that close … I will stay out of the primary."https://t.co/hvJuOPbD4B
— Ally Mutnick (@allymutnick) January 10, 2019