>>> FOR ME IT’S NOT ABOUT THE REPUBLICAN PARTY.
REPUBLICAN PARTY. STEVE KING’S COMMENTS IS
ANTITHETICAL TO WHAT IS, IN
FACT, THE AMERICAN DREAM.
THE DURABILITY OF THE AMERICAN
DREAM IS THE STRENGTH OF THE
AMERICAN SPIRIT.
AMERICAN SPIRIT. >> WELL, STEVE KING’S COMMENTS
ARE REPREHENSIBLE.
ARE REPREHENSIBLE. THEY HAVE NO PLACE IN POLITE
SOCIETY, CERTAINLY NO PLACE IN
THE REPUBLICAN PARTY AND THEY
SHOULD HAVE NO PLACE IN THE
UNITED STATES CONGRESS.
HE OUGHT TO RESIGN, MOVE ON AND
LET SOMEONE ELSE WHO HAS SOME
VALUES TAKE HIS SEAT.
>> WHY WAS THIS COMMENT A BRIDGE
TOO FAR?
TOO FAR? >> I HAVE NOT BEEN IN CONGRESS
FOR THOSE 16 YEARS.
I HAVE JUST NOW BECOME THE
LEADER OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY.
MAYBE I HAVE NOT SEEN THOSE, BUT
I HEARD THESE.
I DISAGREE WITH THESE.
THESE ARE RECKLESS, THESE ARE
WRONG, THESE ARE NOTHING
ASSOCIATED WITH AMERICA.
>> THE HOUSE WILL VOTE THIS
AFTERNOON ON WHETHER TO FORMALLY
REBUKE CONGRESSMAN STEVE KING
FOR HIS LATEST RACIAL COMMENTS.
IT WAS INTRODUCED AFTER THE
IOWAN REPUBLICAN TOLD THE "NEW
YORK TIMES" THAT HE DIDN’T
UNDERSTAND HOW THE TERMS WHITE
NATIONALIST AND WHITE
SUPREMACIST WERE OFFENSIVE.
TODAY’S VOL VOTE -- GENE
ROBINSON, YOU HAVE A NEW ARTICLE
SAYING "SURELY REPUBLICANS WERE
AWARE OF KING’S TOXIC VIEWS,
WHICH HE MAKES NO ATTEMPT TO
HIDE.
HIDE. WHY SUCH AN UPROAR NOW?
PERHAPS KING’S NEWLY OUTRAGED
KRIT
KRIT CRITICS WERE WAITING FOR HIM TO
SPELL IT OUT IN THE LANGUAGE
THAT EVEN THE PARTY OF TRUMP
CANNOT IGNORE, WHICH HE DID.
KING CLAIMS HIS CRUSADE IS ABOUT
KEEPING OUT THE WRONG KIND OF
PEOPLE, LATINO, MUSLIMS, ANYONE
WHO DOESN’T FIT INTO HIS WARPED,
A-HISTORICAL VISION OF THE
NATIONS.
NATIONS. IF YOU P YOU DON’T WANT TO BE
CALLED RACIST, REPUBLICANS?
THEN STOP LETTING BIGOTS SUCH AS
KING AND TRUMP DEFINE THE
PARTY’S POLICIES.
PARTY’S POLICIES. I’LL BELIEVE STIRRING GOP WORDS
ABOUT DIVERSITY WHEN THEY ARE
BACKED UP BY VOTES."
>> I DON’T THINK IT’S REALLY
ARGUABLE, MIKA.
ARGUABLE, MIKA. I THINK HE’S CLEARLY RACIST.
BUT, YOU KNOW, LOOK, WE’RE STUCK
WITH HIM FOR THE TIME BEING.
THIS IS THE REPUBLICAN PARTY’S
CHOICE, RIGHT, TO GO THIS PATH.
THAT INTRO, THE CLIPS IN THE
INTRO
INTRO INTRO, KEVIN McCARTHY IS SHOCKED
THAT KING IS SAYING THINGS LIKE
THIS?
THIS? THIS IS WHAT HE SAYS ALL THE
TIME.
TIME. REMEMBER THE THING ABOUT THE --
HE WAS ASKED ABOUT THE DREAMERS
AND HE TALKED ABOUT HOUSE OF
REPRESENTATIVES THEY’RE
REPRESENTATIVES THEY’RE REALLY -- THEY HAVE THE CALVES
THE SIZE OF CANTALOUPES FROM
HAULING THINGS ACROSS THE
DESERT.
DESERT. THAT’S WHAT HE BELIEVES AND
THAT’S WHAT HE EXPRESSES ALL THE
TIME.
TIME. WITH RESPECT TO SENATOR TIM
SCOTT, WHO WROTE A VERY GOOD
OP-ED IN "THE WASHINGTON POST"
JUMPING ON KING’S COMMENTS, BUT
HE SAID IN WHAT CLIP IT’S NOT
ABOUT THE REPUBLICAN PARTY.
IT IS ABOUT THE REPUBLICAN
PARTY.
PARTY. THIS IS A PARTY THAT TRACES ITS
HERITAGE TO THE MOMENTS BEFORE
THE CIVIL WAR WHEN IT BRAVELY
STOOD UP TO THE THEN DEMOCRAT
BEING PARTY, WHICH WAS THE PARTY
OF SLAVERY THEN.
A PARTY WITH THAT HERITAGE TO BE
SO HISTORICALLY UNAWARE OF THE
NATION’S HISTORY, OF THE
IMPORTANCE OF RACE IN THIS
COUNTRY’S DEVELOPMENT OVER
CENTURIES, IT’S JUST -- IT’S
ASTOUNDING.
ASTOUNDING. UP
UP YOU KNOW, STEVE KING HAS HELPED
GET US THERE, DONALD TRUMP HAS
HELPED GET UP THERE.
>> WE HEARD MITCH McCONNELL SAY
STEVE KING OUGHT TO LOOK FOR A
NEW LINE OF WORK IF HE BELIEVES
WHAT WAS SAID WAS NOT OFFENSIVE.
WHERE IS THIS SUDDEN OUTRAGE
ABOUT STEVE KING COMING FROM?
IS THIS A POLITICAL MOMENT FOR
THEM THAT THEY WANT TO GET ON
THE RECORD IN AN OBVIOUS AND
EASY WAY TO SAY, YES, WHITE
SUPREMACY IS BAD?
WHAT’S GOING ON HERE?
>> IT’S INTERESTING.
IT SEEMED THIS WAS A CUMULATIVE
EFFECT.
EFFECT. THE REPUBLICAN PARTY OF STEVE
KING STOOD WITH HIM IN 2018.
THAT WAS 20 MINUTES AGO.
THEY’VE KNOWN THIS ABOUT THIS
GUY.
GUY. THIS IS NOT A SECRET, THAT HE
HAD THIS VIEW OF THE WORLD IN
TERMS OF WHITE SUPREMACY.
AND IT IS SAD TO ME THAT IT TOOK
THIS MUCH FOR THE HIERARCHY OF
THE REPUBLICAN PARTY TO FINALLY
SPEAK OUT.
SPEAK OUT. I’M NOT SURE THAT HIM LOSING
HIMSELF
HIMSELF HIS COMMITTEE ASSIGNMENTS IS THE
PUNISHMENT THAT IS APPROPRIATE
HERE.
HERE. I THINK THEY SHOULD DEBATE AT
LEAST EXPULSION.
LEAST EXPULSION. WHEN SOMEONE SAYS THESE KINDS OF
THINGS, WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE
HISTORY OF THIS COUNTRY AND WHAT
OUR VALUES ARE AND WHAT WE
SHOULD BE STANDING FOR, IT IS,
FRANKLY -- I MEAN, THINK ABOUT
PEOPLE WHO GOT THROWN OUT FOR
SAYING MUCH LESS BACK IN THE
DAY.
DAY. TRUMP HAS REALLY PROTECTED THIS
GUY BECAUSE TRUMP HAS KIND OF
LIKE TAKEN THE EDGES OFF OF WHAT
IS OUTRAGEOUS.
IS OUTRAGEOUS. HE IS SO OUTRAGEOUS THAT A GUY
SAYING WHIE SUETE SUPREMACY IS J
FINE, WELL, THEN WE’RE NOT GOING
TO LET YOU SIT ON A COMMITTEE.
>> AND MIKA, HE’S ALREADY GOT A
PRIMARY CHALLENGER IN THE RACE
IN 2020.
IN 2020. PERHAPS ULTIMATELY IT WILL BE UP
TO THE PEOPLE IN HIS DISTRICT TO
DECIDE.
DECIDE. >> EUGENE ROBINSON, THANK YOU
VERY MUCH FOR JOINING US THIS
MORNING.