Following backlash against inflammatory comments Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) made in a New York Times interview, the House Republican Steering Committee removed King from all of his congressional committee assignments, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) announced Monday night.
During the interview, King asked, "White nationalist, white supremacist, Western civilization — how did that language become offensive?" Democrats and some Republicans immediately blasted King for the remarks, calling them racist. In a statement, King said he discussed with the reporter "the worn out label 'racist' and my observation that other slanderous labels have been increasingly assigned to conservatives by the left, who injected into our current political dialog such terms as Nazi, fascist, white nationalist, white supremacist," and his remarks were "mischaracterized."
King said McCarthy's "decision to remove me from committees is a political decision that ignores the truth," and he told him, "You have to do what you have to do and I will do what I have to do." King added that he does not plan on resigning.
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