Rep. Steve King's (R-Iowa) comments on rape and incest and Acting Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Ken Cuccinelli's rewriting of history left Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) stunned during an appearance on CNN Wednesday evening.
Host Wolf Blitzer asked the 2020 presidential candidate to share her thoughts on their controversial remarks. Cuccinelli on Tuesday said the Statue of Liberty's plaque should read "give me your tired, your poor who can stand on their own two feet, and who will not become a public charge," and declared that the famous Emma Lazarus poem is about "people coming from Europe."
Regarding Cuccinelli, Harris said the U.S.'s position "was wherever you come from, give us your tired, your poor, your sick, so I find it remarkable in a very troubling way that he actually had the gall to speak the words he spoke. It's clear that's how they feel, but the fact that he actually said it, and unapologetically, tells us exactly where we are."
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King, speaking in front of a conservative club in Urbandale, Iowa, on Wednesday, defended abortion restrictions that do not provide exceptions for rape or incest, asking if "there would be any population of the world left" if "we went back through all the family trees and just pulled out anyone who was a product of rape or incest."
Harris couldn't help but laugh after hearing the soundbite. "These guys are just out of their minds," she said. "What is that? You've got one saying the Statue of Liberty only applies to people from Europe, you've got another one saying rape and incest are okay, what is going on with these people? They do not understand the importance and the responsibility of their jobs." Catherine Garcia
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