Republican Party Rep. Steve King has uttered questionable statements in past times, but the Iowa congressman might have eclipsed his earlier blunders Monday night. Rep. King essentially said that people of color were a “subgroup” that did nothing to contribute to modern society during a live broadcast.
King was a guest on Chris Hayes’ All In program during MSNBC’s coverage of the Republican National Convention. On the panel with King was Esquire writer Charles Pierce, a white man, and April Ryan, a Black news correspondent with the Urban Radio Networks. Pierce opened up the segment by asking King if the GOP was run by older, white men thus prompting the congressman’s curious response.
The Washington Post reports:
“This ‘old white people’ business does get a little tired, Charlie,” King said. “I’d ask you to go back through history and figure out, where are these contributions that have been made by these other categories of people that you’re talking about, where did any other subgroup of people contribute more to civilization?”
“Than white people?” Hayes asked, clearly amazed.
“Than, than Western civilization itself,” King replied. “It’s rooted in Western Europe, Eastern Europe and the United States of America and every place where the footprint of Christianity settled the world. That’s all of Western civilization.”
The other panelists objected, with Hayes trying to keep the peace. Panelist April Ryan, who is black, asked, “What about Asia? What about Africa?”
Other hits in the Steve King discography include the congressman pushing for an end to Harriet Tubman appearing on the $20 bill, citing that it was racist against whites. His latest comments, however, might be among his worst yet.
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Photo: screen cap
