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Home Opinion The Problem of Steve King

Photo courtesy of Salon.com.

 

by Noah Rohlfing

 

Steve King has been no stranger to controversy over the years. The Republican Congressman from Iowa has been a beacon for controversial remarks since he was first elected in 2002. We at Concordia should take notice of his actions because I feel that he does not uphold the same morals as my fellow Iowans or Christians. Steve King does not belong in the U.S. Congress any longer.

King keeps his name in the public consciousness by being shamelessly controversial. In 2012, he compared immigrants to bird dogs at a town hall meeting and last summer he questioned the contributions of non-western ‘subgroups’ during an interview on MSNBC. The beloved Des Moines-based t-shirt company Raygun even has a shirt for sale that reads, “Dear America, Sorry About Steve King. Sincerely, Iowa.” While that is a funny shirt, it is also indicative of the main problem here. King has been an embarrassment to Iowans with his remarks. It casts unwanted attention onto an otherwise quiet state. This past week, he thrust himself, and Iowa, into the spotlight again.

King has long supported Geert Wilders, the Netherlands’ far-right candidate for Prime Minister. Wilders has long spouted anti-Islamic rhetoric, as he wants to close all mosques in the country. He is vehemently anti-immigration, which has never been more apparent than when he denounced Moroccan migrants as ‘scum’ at his campaign launch in February. Last Sunday, King went to Twitter to applaud Wilders for his stance, stating, “we can’t restore our civilization with somebody else’s babies.” It’s difficult to interpret as anything but an anti-immigrant sentiment, which is perplexing coming from a man who lives in a nation of immigrants.

When I saw this, I was shocked. But after I looked up the past comments of King, I wasn’t so much shocked as I was upset. Some of his GOP colleagues were as well. Carlos Cebullos, a first-term congressman from Florida, was highly critical of King’s tweet, replying, “What exactly do you mean? Do I qualify as ‘somebody else’s baby?’” When members of your own party are criticizing you and firing back on Twitter, you might have some issues.

Then, King doubled down on those comments Monday on CNN. Instead of apologizing or backing away from his comments, King said that he would “like to see an America that’s just so homogenous that we look a lot the same.” If that wasn’t enough, he went even further the next day on an Iowa radio station. Instead of admitting that America is a multiracial country, he suggested that “the hispanics and the blacks will be fighting each other before that happens.” Rather than simply admit that he was wrong or back off, King pushed further. He was rebuked by the head of the Iowa GOP as well, adding to the ever-growing list of Republicans irritated with King.

But the worry I have is that nothing will come of this. King has said racially provocative things before and continues to get elected with limited opposition. King’s district is the largest in the state of Iowa and the least diverse as well. He won his last election with 61 percent of the vote. His seat looks secure right now, but there’s unrest and backlash heading King’s way.

Right now, there might be people wondering if there’s anything we can do to get King out of the public consciousness. Well, he’s up for reelection in 2018. Let’s vote him out of office. One of the Republican State Senators from his district should challenge him, which nearly happened last year with Rick Bertrand. If someone were to oppose him in 2018, they would have more time to campaign and give King a scare. There should be a formidable challenger from the Democrats in this district. Even though this district has become solidly Republican over the year, now could be the Democrats’ best opportunity to change that.

This can also be an opportunity for everyone at Concordia to be more aware of politicians in their own state and district. Paying attention to local politics can prevent the rise of someone like King.

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