U.S. Rep. Steve King, under fire for defending white nationalism and white supremacism is now endorsing President Trump’s desire to declare a national emergency to build his wall. And he wants Trump to go all out – an all concrete barrier dedicated as a “monument to the rule of law.”
In a New York Times interview published Thursday King had wondered when white nationalism and white supremacism had become offensive.
“White nationalist, white supremacist, Western civilization — how did that language become offensive?” Rep. King had asked the Times. “Why did I sit in classes teaching me about the merits of our history and our civilization?”
After massive outrage including bipartisan denouncements, King backtracked, issuing a statement that ignores his own long history of racist and bigoted remarks.
King, who is perhaps best-known for accusing undocumented immigrants of having “calves the size of cantaloupes” from “running drugs across the Mexican border,” claimed late Thursday he does not support white nationalism or white supremacy.
“I reject those labels and the evil ideology that they define,” he said in a statement.
He did not, however, retract his remarks nor did he claim he had been misquoted or taken out of context. King also did not retract any of the many racist and bigoted remarks he has made in the past.
Ironically, experts have said President Trump does not have the legal authority to build the wall by declaring a national emergency and taking money from other funds to do so. It could therefore not be a “monument to the rule of law.”
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Image by Gage Skidmore via Flickr and a CC license