Representative Steve King Responds To Being Removed From House Committee Assignments

Following actions from House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-California) to remove Rep. Steve King from his committee assignments, the Iowa congressman has responded with a written statement decrying the move.

King wrote a statement, which he shared via Twitter on Monday evening, lamenting his being removed from various committees within the House of Representatives. His removal came about following an interview in the New York Times, one in which the congressman seemingly lamented how terms like “white nationalist” and “Western Civilization” came to be seen as negative.

“Leader McCarthy’s decision to remove me from committees is a political decision that ignores the truth,” King began his statement.

King then tried to explain the circumstances from his point of view, including his insistence that his wording from the interview was taken out of context.

“In a 56 minute interview [with the New York Times], we discussed the changing use of language in political discourse. We discussed the worn out label ‘racist’ and my observation that other slanderous labels have been increasingly assigned to Conservatives by the Left.”

In another part of his statement, King insisted that he rejected “evil ideology.” He added that his “record as a vocal advocate for Western Civilization is nearly as full as my record in defense of Freedom of Speech.”

My Statement on Kevin McCarthy’s Unprecedented Assault on my Freedom of Speech. pic.twitter.com/0R0vP6MoWT

— Steve King (@SteveKingIA) January 15, 2019

Closing his statement, King suggested he understood why McCarthy had to carry out the actions that he did on Monday evening.

“Ultimately, I told him [McCarthy] ‘You have to do what you have to do and I will do what I have to do,'” King wrote. “I will continue to point out the truth and work with all the vigor that I have to represent the 4th District Iowans for at least the next two years.”

King’s comments originally earned him scorn from Democrats and Republicans alike. Prior to being stripped of his committee assignments, McCarthy promised that action would be taken against the Iowa Congressmen, per previous reporting from the Inquisitr.

Although King insists that his comments were taken out of context, other lawmakers have shone light on the fact that he has made similar controversial comments in the past.

Rep. Bobby Rush, an Illinois Democrat who says that he plans to issue a measure to censure King in the House, previously made calls for the Iowan to lose his committee assignments earlier in the day. Rush pointed out that, prior to his comments this past week, King previously compared immigrants to livestock.

Rush also left no doubts as to how he felt about King.

“As with any animal that is rabid, Steve King should be set aside and isolated,” Rush said.