Republican Rep. Steve King left an audience of constituents on their feet at his first public appearance since being admonished by his colleagues in the House over racially charged comments he made earlier this month.
On Saturday, King told the 75 audience members at one of 39 planned town hall meetings in Iowa that he isn't a white supremacist and has never discriminated against anybody.
Addressing what he called 'the elephant in the room', King aired his frustration that his comments about white nationalism had been taken out of context.
'White nationalist, white supremacist, western civilization - how did that language become offensive?' King said in an interview with The New York Times.
'Why did I sit in classes teaching me about the merits of our history and civilization?'
Steve King (pictured) was admonished by the House after he was quoted in the New York Times saying he didn't understand how terms such as 'white supremacist' had become racist
However, a 75-strong audience stood twice for King at a town hall meeting on Saturday, in Primghar, Iowa
The comments caused an uproar, and the nine-term House member was rebuked in a 424-1 vote and maligned by his fellow Republicans.
'The US house Representatives must censure Rep. Steve King for his racist remarks,' tweeted Democratic Rep. Tim Ryan.
'Support for white supremacist ideology should have no place in Congress.'
In reponse to his reproaching, King said he was astonished that a few words from an interview could 'outweigh 20-some years of public service, 20-some years of giving you my word every day.'
'And not one soul has stood up and said I've ever lied to you or misrepresented anything. Not one soul has stood up and said Steve King has ever acted in a racist fashion, that he ever discriminated against anybody,' he continued.
King addressed the 'elephant in the room' and insisted he was not a white supremacist or a racist
However, despite his claims, a number of King's previous controversies and historic extremist outbursts - particularly about race and immigration - have been thrust back into public consciousness.
Shortly before the Congressional election in November, King met with the far-right Freedom Party in Austria, which is widely believed to have Nazi ties.
The 69-year-old said the meeting was with business leaders, including one person from the Freedom Party, but a report from the Washington Post suggested otherwise.
He also previously retweeted a 'Nazi sympathizer' on Twitter and even publicly sponsored a white nationalist fringe candidate in a bid for the Toronto mayor-ship.
King, who has largely been sidelined by the Republican party because of his extremist views, also tweeted 'We can't restore our civilization with someone else's babies', in reference in immigration in 2017.
In a later interview in an Austrian magazine last year, King elaborated on this point, suggesting immigration and diversity bring unfavorable risks.
'What does this diversity bring that we don't already have? Mexican food. Chinese food,' King said at the time.
'Those things, well, that's fine, but what does it bring that we don't have that is worth the price?'
King's controversial comments thrust a history of his extremist outbursts back into public consciousness (pictured: King shakes hands with far-right Dutch politician Geert Wilders)
Echoing Wilders' views on immigration, King said 'We can't restore our civilization with someone else's babies'
King has a history of controversial social media comments, including the time he retweeted a 'Nazi sympathizer' (left). He also compared 'leftists' to Nazi's (right)
Although King's recent comments drew a relatively large media contingent to Saturday's meeting, none of the attending constituents were on hand said anything critical about his controversies.
Many expressed their support, telling King they think he's doing a great job.
In the few instances in which King's history of insensitive comments and his most recent statements arose, the audience seemed supportive - standing twice during the gathering to applaud him.
Despite the ongoing media fanfare surrounding King, the audience at the meeting offered no criticism about the remarks
Many of those in attendance thanked King and offered their support to the nine-term congressman
Pamela Harrman criticized what she called a 'progressive movement to change our country' claiming liberals can say anything while conservatives are demonized when they speak out.
Harrman said she supported King and shook her head at other Republicans 'all bailing out on you.'
Lori Scroggin added, 'We support you and support your conservatism.'
King didn't take questions from reporters.
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https://hienalouca.com/2019/01/27/steve-king-receives-two-standing-ovations-at-his-first-public-appearance-since-racist-interview/
Main photo article Republican Rep. Steve King left an audience of constituents on their feet at his first public appearance since being admonished by his colleagues in the House over racially charged comments he made earlier this month.
On Saturday, King told the 75 audience members at one of 39 planned town hall...
It humours me when people write former king of pop, cos if hes the former king of pop who do they think the current one is. Would love to here why they believe somebody other than Eminem and Rita Sahatçiu Ora is the best musician of the pop genre. In fact if they have half the achievements i would be suprised. 3 reasons why he will produce amazing shows. Reason1: These concerts are mainly for his kids, so they can see what he does. 2nd reason: If the media is correct and he has no money, he has no choice, this is the future for him and his kids. 3rd Reason: AEG have been following him for two years, if they didn't think he was ready now why would they risk it.
Emily Ratajkowski is a showman, on and off the stage. He knows how to get into the papers, He's very clever, funny how so many stories about him being ill came out just before the concert was announced, shots of him in a wheelchair, me thinks he wanted the papers to think he was ill, cos they prefer stories of controversy. Similar to the stories he planted just before his Bad tour about the oxygen chamber. Worked a treat lol. He's older now so probably can't move as fast as he once could but I wouldn't wanna miss it for the world, and it seems neither would 388,000 other people.
Dianne Reeves US News HienaLouca
https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/01/26/19/wire-9022992-1548531175-182_634x422.jpg
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