Connect with us

Watch: Steve King Offensively Compares Transgender US Service Members to Eunuchs

Published

on

‘If They Don’t Have Those and Want Sexual Reassignment Surgery, We’ll Cut Them Up and Remake Them Into Something Different’ King Says

U.S. Rep. Steve King (R-IA) was so angered a bill banning the use of Defense Dept. funds for transgender transition medical services failed late Thursday he stood on the House floor Friday morning and told offensive and disgusting lie after lie after lie.

King is a white nationalist who is perhaps best known for claiming that for every undocumented immigrant in America who’s a “valedictorian,” there are 100 with “calves the size of cantaloupes“ running drugs across the Mexican border.

The eight-term congressman didn’t hold back his rage Friday, nor could he hold back his obvious hatred of transgender people, even those risking their lives to serve their country in the armed forces.

(It’s important to note that, as NCRM reported Friday, King is the chair of the House Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice and is co-sponsoring a bill that would ban transgender people from being protected under existing federal civil rights laws.)

Literally almost nothing King said in relation to transgender people is true. We’ll take his word on the historical details of his speech.

King argued that by allowing the military to pay for medically necessary transition care for transgender soldiers, the U.S. is proving it is willing to let the nation die. He also compared transgender soldiers to castrated slaves, eunuchs from the 16th and 17th century Ottoman Empire, who were, he said, not good at fighting because they no longer produced testosterone.

“What they did in order to keep them from reproducing was that they did reassignment surgery on those slaves that they captured that they had put into their Janissaries troops,” Rep. King said, as Breitbart reports. That’s false. It was not “reassignment surgery,” it was castration, period.

“And that reassignment surgery was they took them from being a virile reproductive male to being eunuchs. They were suitable to work in the harem, but they found out when to put them out in the field to do battle against the enemy, that they didn’t have the testosterone to take on the fight. And so over a period of time, a generation or two, they finally realized, I guess we are going to have to stop turning these men into eunuchs if we are going to have them as a fighting machine.”

RELATED NEWS: GOP Bill Banning Existing Federal Civil Rights Laws From Protecting Transgender People Advances to Subcommittee

It’s vile and offensive to compare a transgender soldier to a eunuch. These are U.S. military service members. Secretary of Defense James Mattis should send Rep. King a letter demanding an apology to every transgender service member.

King continues his offensive attack.

“That’s the Janissaries. And the old history through that is replete with narrative after narrative of them taking out the knife and actually cutting these atomically complete men flush. Some would die, and some would live, but none of them had the will to fight. So they decided they were going to keep anatomically complete men. Men that were producing testosterone in their crack Janissaries troops where they fought well.”

And then, more lies. King actually claims there will be transgender people “lining up at the recruitment center who have planned that they want to do sexual reassignment surgery” in the military, just so they can get “free” transition care.

It will surprise Rep. King to learn that thanks to ObamaCare and the Obama-era Dept. of Health and Human Services, nearly all insurance plans must cover transition care. So, there’s no need to enlist to obtain medical care.

The ACLU’s Joshua Block adds:

“That’s a lesson from the Ottoman military from two, three, four hundred years ago,” King continues on his long, wasteful trip into history, “and today we are thinking that we are going to make the military better while people lining up at the recruitment center who have planned that they want to do sexual reassignment surgery, know that it is expensive and just believe if I can get into the Navy, Army, Air Force and Marines, maybe become a Navy Seal and submit to sexual reassignment surgery and go from a man to a woman.”

Of course, King isn’t finished yet. He calls the DoD funding transition care “a neon sign for people who want to have sexual reassignment surgery.”

“It doesn’t look women will be going into men after they go through seal training. I don’t think that’s going to happen. But there is no way this enhances the capabilities of our military. There is no way this enhances the morale of our military. And you will never see a platoon that is made up of all the folks that are likely to line up to sign into our military. This policy clearly, if enacted and advertised, is a neon sign for people who want to have sexual reassignment surgery. They will line up at the recruitment office. They’ll be going into the military. And the military will say we had to turn away this one because he was too heavy or had flat feet or a bad eye or congenital defect of one kind or another.”

And then King lies about the cost. King says $3.9 billion over ten years. The Rand Corporation puts the figure at “$2.4 million and $8.4 million annually.” King is lying exponentially.

“But if they don’t have those and want sexual reassignment surgery, we’ll cut them up and remake them into something different, to the tune of 3.9 billion dollars over a ten-year period. And put them off in the recovery room for two years before we can put them to work and use them. And by the way, they are likely to be discharged to go back into society if their only purpose was to get the free surgery.”

As Mediaite also reports, King also offensively said:

“Can you imagine someone…taking up a bed in Walter Reed hospital, maybe a roommate with someone who was hit by an IED. Someone who lost a couple of legs, amputated, in the dangerous, dangerous service of the freedoms of our country. Can you imagine those two beds side by side? One of ’em missing a couple of legs, or an arm, or an arm and a leg, or two arms. And the other one saying, ‘Well, I just came in for sexual reassignment surgery.’ I won’t say the next things in my mind.”

Again, practically nothing Rep. King said was true. He owes the U.S. military and every transgender person who has ever served an apology. And he owes the American people an apology for lying on the floor of the House of Representatives.

Videos via Dominic Holden/Twitter

Image by Gage Skidmore via Flickr and a CC license

To comment on this article and other NCRM content, visit our Facebook page.

 

Related Topics:
Continue Reading
Click to comment
 
 

Enjoy this piece?

… then let us make a small request. The New Civil Rights Movement depends on readers like you to meet our ongoing expenses and continue producing quality progressive journalism. Three Silicon Valley giants consume 70 percent of all online advertising dollars, so we need your help to continue doing what we do.

NCRM is independent. You won’t find mainstream media bias here. From unflinching coverage of religious extremism, to spotlighting efforts to roll back our rights, NCRM continues to speak truth to power. America needs independent voices like NCRM to be sure no one is forgotten.

Every reader contribution, whatever the amount, makes a tremendous difference. Help ensure NCRM remains independent long into the future. Support progressive journalism with a one-time contribution to NCRM, or click here to become a subscriber. Thank you. Click here to donate by check.

News

‘To Do God Knows What’: Local Elections Official Reads Lara Trump the Riot Act

Published

42 mins ago

on

April 25, 2024

By

The county clerk for Ingham County, Michigan blasted Republican National Committee co-chair Lara Trump after the ex-president’s daughter-in-law bragged the RNC will have people to “physically handle” voters’ ballots in polling locations across the country this November.

“We now have the ability at the RNC not just to have poll watchers, people standing in polling locations, but people who can physically handle the ballots,” Trump told Newsmax host Eric Bolling this week, as NCRM reported.

“Will these people, will they be allowed to physically handle the ballots as well, Lara?” Bolling asked.

“Yup,” Trump replied.

Marc Elias, the top Democratic elections attorney who won 63 of the 64 lawsuits filed by the Donald Trump campaign in the 2020 election cycle (the one he did not win was later overturned), corrected Lara Trump.

READ MORE: ‘I Hope You Find Happiness’: Moskowitz Trolls Comer Over Impeachment Fail

“Poll observers are NEVER permitted to touch ballots. She is suggesting the RNC will infiltrate election offices,” Elias warned on Wednesday.

Barb Byrum, a former Michigan Democratic state representative with a law degree and a local hardware store, is the Ingham County Clerk, and thus the chief elections official for her county. She slammed Lara Trump and warned her the RNC had better not try to touch any ballots in her jurisdiction.

“I watched your video, and it’s riveting stuff. But if you think you’ll be touching ballots in my state, you’ve got another thing coming,” Byrum told Trump in response to the Newsmax interview.

“First and foremost, precinct workers, clerks, and voters are the only people authorized to touch ballots. For example, I am the County Clerk, and I interact with exactly one voted ballot: My own,” Byrum wrote, launching a lengthy series of social media posts educating Trump.

“Election inspectors are hired by local clerks in Michigan and we hire Democrats and Republicans to work in our polling places. We’re required by law to do so,” she continued. “In large cities and townships, the local clerks train those workers. In smaller cities and townships, that responsibility falls to County Clerks, like me.”

READ MORE: ‘Doesn’t Care if Pregnant Women Live or Die’: Alito Slammed Over Emergency Abortion Remarks

She explained, “precinct workers swear an oath to uphold the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of Michigan.”

“Among the provisions in the Michigan Constitution is the right to a secret ballot for our voters,” she added.

Byrum also educated Trump on her inaccurate representation of the consent decree, which was lifted by a court, not a judge’s death, as Lara Trump had claimed.

“It’s important for folks to understand what you’re talking about: The end of a consent decree that was keeping the RNC from intimidating and suppressing voters (especially in minority-majority areas).”

“With that now gone, you’re hoping for the RNC to step up their game and get people that you train to do god-knows what into the polling places.”

Byrum also warned Trump: “If election inspectors are found to be disrupting the process of an orderly election OR going outside their duties, local clerks are within their rights to dismiss them immediately.”

“So if you intend to train these 100,000 workers to do anything but their sacred constitutional obligation, they’ll find themselves on the curb faster than you can say ‘election interference.'”

READ MORE: ‘Blood on Your Hands’: Tennessee Republicans OK Arming Teachers After Deadly School Shooting

 

 

Continue Reading

OPINION

‘I Hope You Find Happiness’: Moskowitz Trolls Comer Over Impeachment Fail

Published

18 hours ago

on

April 24, 2024

By

U.S. Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL) is mocking House Oversight Committee Chairman Jim Comer over a CNN report revealing the embattled Kentucky Republican who has been alleging without proof President Joe Biden is the head of a vast multi-million dollar criminal bribery and influence-peddling conspiracy, has given up trying to impeach the leader of the free world.

CNN on Wednesday had reported, “after 15 months of coming up short in proving some of his biggest claims against the president, Comer recently approached one of his Republican colleagues and made a blunt admission: He was ready to be ‘done with’ the impeachment inquiry into Biden.” The news network described Chairman Comer as “frustrated” and his investigation as “at a dead end.”

One GOP lawmaker told CNN, “Comer is hoping Jesus comes so he can get out.”

“He is fed up,” the Republican added.

Despite the Chairman’s alleged remarks, “a House Oversight Committee spokesperson maintains that ‘the impeachment inquiry is ongoing and impeachment is 100% still on the table.'”

RELATED: ‘Used by the Russians’: Moskowitz Mocks Comer’s Biden Impeachment Failure

Last week, Oversight Committee Ranking Member Jamie Raskin (D-MD) got into a shouting match with Chairman Comer, with the Maryland Democrat saying, “You have not identified a single crime – what is the crime that you want to impeach Joe Biden for and keep this nonsense going?” and Comer replying, “You’re about to find out.”

Before those heated remarks, Congressman Raskin chided Comer, humorously threatening to invite Rep. Moskowitz to return to the hearing.

Congressman Moskowitz appears to be the only member of the House Oversight Committee who has ever made a motion to call for a vote on impeaching President Biden, which he did last month, although he did it to ridicule Chairman Comer.

It appears the Moskowitz-Comer “bromance” may be over.

Wednesday afternoon Congressman Moskowitz, whose sarcasm is becoming well-known, used it to ridicule Chairman Comer.

“I was hoping our breakup would never become public,” he declared. “We had such a great thing while it lasted James. I will miss the time we spent together. I will miss our conversations. I will miss the pet names you gave me. I only wish you the best and hope you find happiness.”

Watch the video above or at this link.

READ MORE: ‘Doesn’t Care if Pregnant Women Live or Die’: Alito Slammed Over Emergency Abortion Remarks

Continue Reading

OPINION

‘Doesn’t Care if Pregnant Women Live or Die’: Alito Slammed Over Emergency Abortion Remarks

Published

20 hours ago

on

April 24, 2024

By

The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a case centered on the question, can the federal government require states with strict abortion bans to allow physicians to perform abortions in emergency situations, specifically when the woman’s health, but not her life, is in danger?

The 1986 federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA), signed into law by Republican President Ronald Reagan, says it can. The State of Idaho on Wednesday argued it cannot.

U.S. Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar, The Washington Post’s Kim Bellware reported, “made a clear delineation between Idaho law and what EMTALA provides.”

“In Idaho, doctors have to shut their eyes to everything except death,” Prelogar said, according to Bellware. “Whereas under EMTALA, you’re supposed to be thinking about things like, ‘Is she about to lose her fertility? Is her uterus going to become incredibly scarred because of the bleeding? Is she about to undergo the possibility of kidney failure?’ ”

READ MORE: Gag Order Breach? Trump Targeted Cohen in Taped Interview Hours Before Contempt Hearing

Attorney Imani Gandy, an award-winning journalist and Editor-at-Large for Rewire News Group, highlighted an issue central to the case.

“The issue of medical judgment vs. good faith judgment is a huge one because different states have different standards of judgment,” she writes. “If a doctor exercises their judgment, another doctor expert witness at trial could question that. That’s a BIG problem here. That’s why doctors are afraid to provide abortions. They may have an overzealous prosecutor come behind them and disagree.”

Right-wing Justice Samuel Alito appeared to draw the most fire from legal experts, as his questioning suggested “fetal personhood” should be the law, which it is not.

“Justice Alito is trying to import fetal personhood into federal statutory law by suggesting federal law might well prohibit hospitals from providing abortions as emergency stabilizing care,” observed Constitutional law professor Anthony Michael Kreis.

Paraphrasing Justice Alito, Kreis writes: “Alito: How can the federal government restrict what Idaho criminalizes simply because hospitals in Idaho have accepted federal funds?”

Appearing to answer that question, Georgia State University College of Law professor of law and Constitutional scholar Eric Segall wrote: “Our Constitution unequivocally allows the federal gov’t to offer the states money with conditions attached no matter how invasive b/c states can always say no. The conservative justices’ hostility to the spending power is based only on politics and values not text or history.”

Professor Segall also served up some of the strongest criticism of the right-wing justice.

READ MORE: ‘They Will Have Thugs?’: Lara Trump’s Claim RNC Will ‘Physically Handle the Ballots’ Stuns

He wrote that Justice Alito “is basically making it clear he doesn’t care if pregnant women live or die as long as the fetus lives.”

Earlier Wednesday morning Segall had issued a warning: “Trigger alert: In about 20 minutes several of the conservative justices are going to show very clearly that that they care much more about fetuses than women suffering major pregnancy complications which is their way of owning the libs which is grotesque.”

Later, predicting “Alito is going to dissent,” Segall wrote: “Alito is dripping arrogance and condescension…in a case involving life, death, and medical emergencies. He has no bottom.”

Taking a broader view of the case, NYU professor of law Melissa Murray issued a strong warning: “The EMTALA case, Moyle v. US, hasn’t received as much attention as the mifepristone case, but it is huge. Not only implicates access to emergency medical procedures (like abortion in cases of miscarriage), but the broader question of federal law supremacy.”

READ MORE: ‘Blood on Your Hands’: Tennessee Republicans OK Arming Teachers After Deadly School Shooting

 

 

 

Continue Reading

Trending

Copyright © 2020 AlterNet Media.