Rep. Steve King is fighting for his political life. The notorious white supremacist faces four primary challengers in next week’s Iowa primary—and if he gets through them, he faces a strong Democratic challenge from J.D. Scholten. As he battles, he’s gotten into a he said-he said with House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy over one of the key issues in the primary.
King’s Republican challengers aren’t talking much about his history of racist remarks but they are talking about his loss of seniority and committee assignments, which resulted from a final straw comment when King said to The New York Times: “White nationalist, white supremacist, Western civilization—how did that language become offensive?” So King’s claim that McCarthy promised to restore his seniority and committee assignments—a claim McCarthy denies, sort of—is an important part of his pitch to voters.
King has repeatedly said McCarthy made that commitment. McCarthy promised him “exoneration,” he said on May 11, and “to put all of my committees back with all of my seniority.”
McCarthy insisted in response that “Congressman King’s comments cannot be exonerated, and I never said that.” But he made an interesting hedge, saying that if he’s reelected, King’s committee assignments would be considered “just like every single member.” King came back with the claim that he had a recording of the conversation, and: “All Kevin McCarthy really needs to do is do what he said.”
One of these men is lying. Neither of them is trustworthy. King has yet to produce the recording he supposedly has, but there’s a lot of wiggle room in what McCarthy is saying. His office didn’t renew that denial when The New York Times came calling. A leader telling a disgraced member that his assignments will be reviewed by the steering committee can come as a dismissive pro forma statement, or it can be shaded—or more—with promise. The fact that McCarthy isn’t flatly saying King won’t get any consideration is reason for suspicion here.
King is probably helped by the sheer number of his primary challengers, who could split the anti-King vote and let him slip through. If no one gets 35% of the vote in the June 2 primary, the winner will be chosen by a district convention, a process that may favor King. King’s leading competitor, state Sen. Randy Feenstra, has released an internal poll showing himself narrowly trailing King, with both just above 35%.
King should by all means release that recording he supposedly has of McCarthy promising him his seniority and committee assignments. In this battle of Republican liars, let someone actually win.
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