Shameful.
Republican Congressman Steve King has been spewing increasingly racist remarks for years, but over the past few days it’s become absolutely white nationalistic rhetoric. On Monday Press Secretary Sean Spicer was asked if the White House had any response:
On Tuesday that same reporter again asked for a response to King’s comment, “We can’t restore our civilization with somebody else’s babies.”
Here’s what he got:
“The President believes that this is not a point of view that he shares. He believes that he’s the president for all Americans. And so I’ll leave it at that.”
Generously, 30 words. That’s it.
No rebuke, no denouncement, no recognition that racism and white nationalism are antithetical to American beliefs and society, no acknowledgement that the United States is a melting pot, a nation of immigrants, all people are equal under the law and the Constitution, there are a great many advancements immigrants have bestowed on this nation, people should be viewed by the color of their hearts not the color of their skin, the Civil Rights Act outlaws discrimination on the basis of a person’s race or national origin…
Nothing.
Just, “The President believes that this is not a point of view that he shares. He believes that he’s the president for all Americans.”
Well, at least he got that part right.
Everything else, he got wrong.
Shameful.
It’s important to note that King has doubled down on his white nationalistic comment, but he continued that brand of ugly rhetoric on Tuesday, telling a local radio host, “I will predict that Hispanics and the blacks will be fighting each other.”