GOP Rep. Steve King is on a 'doomed mission' to get his committee assignments back

Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) is desperately trying to get back on the committees he was kicked off of for making racist comments, although it seems he's struggling to win support.

King was stripped of committee assignments after saying in an interview with The New York Times in January, "White nationalist, white supremacist, Western civilization — how did that language become offensive?" This was just the latest in a series of similar incidents from King, who the chair of the National Republican Congressional Committee condemned last year for "white supremacy and hate." King has insisted his comment to the Times was taken out of context.

Now, Politico reports King is "vowing to look at all procedural options to force his way back onto the committees from which he was exiled." While a few of King's Republican colleagues have been fighting for his reinstatement and are trying to round up signatures for a petition, the report notes that GOP leaders have made clear they won't reassign King, and when Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.) made his case for King at a meeting on Tuesday, "not a single lawmaker clapped, cheered or remarked on the request." For this reason, Politico refers to this as a "doomed mission" on King's part.

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King himself told Politico that he was the victim of a "political lynch mob" and that "it is something I will not let go of." He also said he will "have to decide" whether he will try to recruit President Trump for this campaign of his, noting, "The president and I are okay. If you notice, he's not been part of this."