Democrats demand GOP Rep. Steve King's resignation after he asks if humanity would exist without 'rape or incest'


Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) is now facing calls to resign over a series of controversial comments for the second time since January.
King set off a firestorm yet again on Wednesday after wondering out loud at an event whether humanity would exist without rape and incest.
"What if we went back through all the family trees and just pulled out anyone who was a product of rape or incest?" King asked while defending abortion restrictions that do not provide exceptions for rape or incest, the Des Moines Register reports. "Would there be any population of the world left if we did that?"
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
King had already received widespread condemnation earlier this year after asking in an interview why "white nationalist" and "white supremacist" are "offensive" terms, which prompted him to be stripped of his committee assignments as Republicans, including Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah), said he should leave office. He did not do so and later claimed the quote was taken out of context.
Now, King is facing calls to step aside once more, including from 2020 Democratic presidential candidates Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn), reports NBC News.
"Crediting rape and incest throughout history to further his political agenda is vile," Booker said in a statement. Klobuchar on Twitter wrote that "it's time for him to go."
Pete Buttigieg, mayor of South Bend, Indiana, also told NBC that King's comments were "extremely disturbing" and that "I would think anybody who had said something that extreme would resign," but since "I doubt that he'll actually do it ... we're just going to have to beat him the old-fashioned way."
King as he sparked this new controversy also spoke about the earlier one on Wednesday, saying there was originally a plan for Trump to distance himself but the white supremacy comments but that now, there's "no signal from Donald Trump that he's anything other than supportive of me."
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Brendan worked as a culture writer at The Week from 2018 to 2023, covering the entertainment industry, including film reviews, television recaps, awards season, the box office, major movie franchises and Hollywood gossip. He has written about film and television for outlets including Bloody Disgusting, Showbiz Cheat Sheet, Heavy and The Celebrity Cafe.
-
A tall ship adventure in the Mediterranean
The Week Recommends Sailing aboard this schooner and exploring Portugal, Spain and Monaco is a 'magical' experience
-
How drone warfare works
The Explainer From Ukraine to Iran, it has become clear that unmanned aircraft are rapidly revolutionising modern warfare
-
The tourist flood in the Mediterranean: can it be stemmed?
Talking Point Finger-pointing at Airbnb or hotel owners obscures the root cause of overtourism in holiday hotspots: unmanageable demand
-
Canadian man dies in ICE custody
Speed Read A Canadian citizen with permanent US residency died at a federal detention center in Miami
-
GOP races to revise megabill after Senate rulings
Speed Read A Senate parliamentarian ruled that several changes to Medicaid included in Trump's "One Big Beautiful Bill" were not permissible
-
Supreme Court lets states ax Planned Parenthood funds
Speed Read The court ruled that Planned Parenthood cannot sue South Carolina over the state's effort to deny it funding
-
Trump plans Iran talks, insists nuke threat gone
Speed Read 'The war is done' and 'we destroyed the nuclear,' said President Trump
-
Trump embraces NATO after budget vow, charm offensive
Speed Read The president reversed course on his longstanding skepticism of the trans-Atlantic military alliance
-
Trump judge pick told DOJ to defy courts, lawyer says
Speed Read Emil Bove, a top Justice Department official nominated by Trump for a lifetime seat, stands accused of encouraging government lawyers to mislead the courts and defy judicial orders
-
Mamdani upsets Cuomo in NYC mayoral primary
Speed Read Democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani beat out Andrew Cuomo in New York City's Democratic mayoral primary
-
Supreme Court clears third-country deportations
Speed Read The court allowed Trump to temporarily resume deporting migrants to countries they aren't from