Boehner backs embattled Majority Whip Steve Scalise: 'He has my full confidence'

Boehner backs embattled Majority Whip Steve Scalise: &#039;He has my full confidence&#039;

(Image credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

last updated 10 January 2015

The backlash against Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.) has been swift and strong since he admitted Monday that he'd spoken at a white nationalist summit back in 2002. But that hasn't stopped the party's top leader, House Speaker John Boehner, from backing him.

Speaking about the scandal for the first time since it broke, Boehner said Tuesday that Scalise — who, as the House majority whip, is the party's third-highest-ranking House member — has "my full confidence as our whip, and he will continue to do great and important work for all Americans," The New York Times reports. "I know Steve to be a man of high integrity and good character," Boehner said.