Xenophobe Rep. Steve King gains fellow Republican Chuck Grassley's endorsement

Rep. Steve King was instrumental in scuttling Republican efforts to find some (any) wiggle room in the immigration debate, doing so with a stream of memorable comments about how brown immigrants are mostly "drug dealers" with melon-sized calves from the gigantic bales of drugs they haul across the border. He is a racist, a xenophobe, a conspiracy theorist, and just generally the sort of person who would in a previous generation spend his life murdering hoboes if he hadn't gotten a cushy government job.

So, naturally, Iowa's Sen. Chuck Grassley is endorsing him.

King is being challenged by state Sen. Rick Bertrand, R-Sioux City. Grassley told the Journal he is supporting King in the June 7 primary election.

“I’ve supported Congressman King in his previous elections and I’ve been supporting him in this election," Grassley said in a statement.

I would point to this as further evidence that even so-called "serious" members of the Republican Party have no problem cuddling up to the rankest extremists among them, but this is Chuck Grassley we're talking about. So there you go.

Meanwhile, Grassley is himself facing a challenge from the Daily Kos-endorsed Democrat Patty Judge, and has been taking hits back home for his hyperpartisan Supreme Court obstructionism. So if you felt like donating $3 to Patty Judge to help send Grassley packing, that would be a fine use of your time.