On a panel this afternoon discussing the chaos unfolding at the RNC, a Chris Hayes panel devolved into one about white men and the GOP. Steve King took the chance to spew some pretty racist, vile, white nationalist crap, which was more shocking than most of the GOP lies.
"Go back through history, Charlie, and ask yourself 'where are these contributions made by these other categories of people that you are talking about. Where did any other subgroup of people contribute more to civilization," King asked.
Chris Hayes leaned in with an incredulous expression, countering with, "Than white people?"
King continued, "Western civilization itself, rooted in Western Europe, Eastern Europe and the United States, and every place where the footprint of Christianity settled the world."
The panel erupted into "WAIT WAIT WAIT" and Chris Hayes actually reached his arms out to literally block them from getting up. Even after he restored some semblance of order, it was tense and difficult.
Just a brief history lesson for Representative King:
George Washington Carver (a black man) developed 300 derivative products from peanuts. Among them are cheese, milk, coffee, flour, ink, dyes, plastics, wood stains, soap, linoleum, medicinal oils and cosmetics (from this page.)
Garrett A Morgan (a black man) patented the mechanical traffic light in 1923 and sold it to General Electric (from this site.)
George “Speck” Crum (a black man) invented the potato chip (from this site.)
Daniel H. Williams (a black man) didn’t invent open heart surgery, but he was the first surgeon to do it successfully (from this site.)
Native Americans discovered the flavor "vanilla" (from this page)
I am convinced King has a KKK robe under his shirt, and more hanging in his Congressional closet. It was utterly shameful.
Karoli adds:
Chris Hayes resorting to some kind of "both sides" argument to neutralize the utter depravity of King's statement was horrible. I understand it's not the best of circumstances, what with "Socialism Sucks" signs photobombing the shot, and two panelists about to crawl up on the desk to strangle King, but really. It would have been nice to hear what April Ryan had to say about that horrible comment, instead of seeing her shushed.
As was noted in the comments, this isn't new for Republicans, and especially not for Steve King. But it is remarkable that they feel perfectly free to express sentiments which are generally reserved for barroom conversations while dressed in white robes.
Update: Joy Ann Reid interviewed Chris Hayes, Charlie Pierce and April Ryan afterward. Hayes admitted he was flabbergasted and out of time. Watch on Periscope.
