WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republicans are criticizing a fellow GOP lawmaker for making what they say are “racist” comments.
Rep. Steve King of Iowa was quoted in The New York Times as saying: “White nationalist, white supremacist, Western civilization — how did that language become offensive?”
Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney, the third-ranking House Republican, tweets that King’s remarks are “abhorrent and racist and should have no place in our national discourse.”
And Rep. Justin Amash of Michigan says: “This is an embrace of racism, and it has no place in Congress or anywhere.”
King later tweeted that he regards white nationalism and white supremacy as “evil.”
He’s already in line to face a primary challenger in 2020. Randy Feenstra, a Republican state senator, announced on Wednesday that he plans to run against King.
