More than 140 national, state, and local organizations are calling on Republican House leadership to censure Iowa Congress member Steve King, as well as block him from any leadership posts in the next Congress, for yet another racist remark calling Mexican immigrants “dirt,” which he continued to deny until the media outlet reporting his remark provided audio proof.
“We ask that before the end of this Congress you bring before the House a censure resolution and, upon passage, require Rep. King to stand in the well of the House chamber to receive the official condemnation of the body,” the groups write in a letter to outgoing Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan and incoming Republican House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy.
While expulsion from the House—because that’s what the chamber’s leading white supremacist really deserves—requires a two-thirds vote of those present and voting, censure requires a simple majority vote that, let’s be honest, a fuck as spineless as Paul Ryan, even with all that P90X, won’t have the guts to do before he leaves office (but we’d certainly love to be proven wrong!).
King was, despite a strong challenge from Democrat J.D. Scholten, re-elected this month, just weeks after endorsing a neo-Nazi sympathizer and facing no repercussions from his leadership. After years of racist shit, “Rep. King continues to be treated as a Member in good standing within the Republican caucus,” the groups note, and King is still chair of the House’s Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice.
If Ryan wants to do something halfway decent on the way out the door, here’s his chance, but don’t expect any miracles. What you can expect is Steve King continuing to say racist shit after Democrats take the House in January, and could very well find himself standing in that well. "The things that he says are so deeply unfair, disturbing and unbefitting of a member of Congress,” said Congress member Pramila Jayapal of Washington state, “and I do think that censure is appropriate.”