The knives are really out for Steve King and the writing is on the wall for him. When close ally Joni Ernst is calling you a racist, you're a racist, Steve. Better find a lobbyist job, and pronto. Or maybe a place that hires white supremacists. Perhaps Fox News is hiring?
Source: TPM
Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) added to the number of Republican colleagues condemning Rep. Steve King’s (R-IA) white supremacy comments in a Saturday morning tweet.
“They are offensive and racist — and not representative of our state of Iowa,” Ernst tweeted.
King told the New York Times that he doesn’t understand when language including “white nationalist” and “white supremacist” became offensive. He also told the Times that immigrant assimilation is more important than race since the “culture of America” is “based on values brought to the United States by whites from Europe.”
King later tried to walk back what he said, that he shouldn't have talked to the reporter, but by saying explicitly what he's been saying for over a decade he just reminded people again what a racist POS he is.
More interesting though is the reaction this time. We've seen Lynne Cheney call him out, The National Review, Ben Shapiro, and many others condemn Steve King. That suggests he has Republicans spooked, that his close race in 2018 wasn't a fluke, and that racist POS Steve King is now a liability. They want him gone, in other words. Two Republicans have already announced they'll challenge King in the primary in 2020 if he runs again.
Which leads me back to Joni Ernst. She's friends with King, but she's up for re-election herself in 2020. With Steve King on the ballot, he'd likely deflate Republican turnout, pushing many independents to vote Democratic. So for Ernst, a freshman and one of the most vulnerable Republican Senators her survival may hinge on whether Steve King is around or not. Hence, her buddy is expendable.
That's politics. Republican politics.
