Rep. King applauded at first Iowa event since House rebuke

PRIMGHAR, Iowa — Constituents applauded Republican Rep. Steve King on Saturday at the Iowa congressman’s first public event since being rebuked by his House colleagues over racist comments he had made to a news- King paper earlier this month.

King told the roughly 75 people who showed up for the first of 39 planned town hall meetings in his sprawling district that he doesn’t adhere to a white supremacist ideology and he repeated his assertion that he’s not racist.

The nine-term House member caused an uproar after he was quoted in a New York Times story saying, “White nationalist, white supremacist, Western civilization — how did that language become offensive?” King claimed his comments were taken out of context, but the House voted 424-1 to rebuke him, with King himself voting in favor of the resolution, and Republican leaders denied him any committee assignments.

Addressing what he called “the elephant in the room” in his opening remarks at Saturday’s event, King expressed frustration that his comments about white nationalism and white supremacy in The New York Times interview led to even his fellow Republicans disowning him.

“It is stunning and astonishing to me that four words in a New York Times quote can outweigh 20some years of public service, 20-some years of giving you my word every day,” King said.