Another GOP lawmaker calls on Steve King to resign over white supremacy comments

By Justin Wise - 01/14/19 10:41 PM EST
 

Rep. Chris StewartChristopher (Chris) Douglas StewartBarr testimony opens new partisan fight over FBI spying on Trump Hill-HarrisX poll: 76 percent oppose Trump pardoning former campaign aides Dems fear Trump is looking at presidential pardons MORE (R-Utah) on Monday called on fellow GOP Rep. Steve KingSteven (Steve) Arnold KingThe Hill's Morning Report — Combative Trump aims at Pelosi before Russia report Steve King's campaign spent more than it raised last quarter It's time for a 'Congressional Jewish Caucus' MORE (R-Iowa) to resign over recent comments he made about white supremacy and white nationalism. 

"I wish he’d resign, frankly," Stewart said on CNN's "Cuomo Prime Time." "He’s lost the trust and faith of his comrades. For the good of the party, for the good of the American people, I think it’s time for us to make a change."

His comments came just hours after GOP leaders in Congress stripped the Iowa congressman from any committee assignments in the new Congress.

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Stewart said that he "absolutely" agreed with the decision, adding that "without committee assignments ... [King] can’t do work in Congress."

"It’s not the first time that he’s said things that the party just cringes at and says 'what in the world,' " Stewart said, acknowledging that the GOP could have addressed King's past controversial comments.

King last week prompted outrage from Democratic and Republican lawmakers after he questioned why terms such as "white nationalist" and "white supremacist" were offensive in an interview with The New York Times. 

“White nationalist, white supremacist, Western civilization — how did that language become offensive?” King, who has served in Congress since 2003, asked. “Why did I sit in classes teaching me about the merits of our history and our civilization?”
 
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthyKevin Owen McCarthyWatchdog: Custodial staff alleged sexual harassment in lawmakers' offices John Legend, Chrissy Teigen lash out at Trump at Dem retreat Republicans call for ex-Trump lawyer Cohen to be referred to DOJ MORE (R-Calif.) vowed to take action over the remarks on Sunday. He announced a day later that King would not serve on any committees in the new Congress.
 
King had been a member of the House Judiciary, Agriculture and Small Business committees. He had also served as chairman of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice in the last Congress. 
 
Sen. Mitt RomneyWillard (Mitt) Mitt RomneyCain says he won't back down, wants to be nominated to Fed The Hill's 12:30 Report: Trump, Dems prep for Mueller report's release Democrats need a 'celebrity' candidate — and it's not Biden or Sanders MORE (R-Utah) was the first Republican in Congress to call for King to resign on Monday, telling reporters that "Congress ought to make it very clear he has no place there."
 
King has defended himself amid the backlash, saying he is not a white supremacist or white nationalist and was not suggesting either were acceptable in the interview. He said in a statement Monday that the GOP's decision to strip him of committee assignments was a "political decision that ignores the truth."
Tags Kevin McCarthy Chris Stewart Mitt Romney Steve King