Spot on as usual, Frank!
3
At least we see Steve King as being honest. Coming out in the open, and saying what he feels and thinks, or what is in the little brain of his. The problem is that, there can be many others out there marauding, like Steve King. Not out in the open.
This is such a shame. Of all places, this is happening in the USA.
Of all people, an elected representative.
This is another example how politicians behave, before an election, and what they do or how they behave after they are elected.
1
So Steve King is the new Republican whipping boy; the poor vassal who gets punished for the misdeeds of the boy-monarch. Feudalism is more than just an economic aspiration for today’s GOP; it’s also a practical judicial model!
In spite of the hypocrisy rampant in GOP Congresspeople, I still blame the millions who voted for them and continue to support our boy-monarch squatting in the Oval Office. One can’t help but wonder how many of them still support King? For every credibility gap, there’s a gullibility fill.
I've been watching this show for 16 years and before that in the Iowa Legislature. Steve King has always been Steve King and only now, when he has finally said something that even other Republicans can't brook, do they decide what a heinous character he has become. He is emblematic of the Republican party. He just isn't as adept at keeping it to an acceptable volume. The Republican party is the white supremacist party and it, and the country, is being led by a President who is of a piece with Steve King.
6
Not to worry. Trump is bringing many people of color into the
GOP by making America GREAT for them............or not.
King's direct racist remarks always stood out in the GOP which revels in dog whistles.
This is the only reason why King is being vilified by his party now. The GOP wants to support racism in a subtle way, not with obvious, blatant racist speech.
26
This is really funny, for a Republican Party which, as soon as the Democrats tentatively abandoned their bigotry/racism in 1964-65, the Republican Party adopted it with enthusiasm and has been operating on it every since. Like George Wallace and Orval Faubus, the current leadership of the Republican Party knows exactly the extent to which they are helped by things like snide remarks about Obama, like Trump's "birther" hoax, etc., etc., and they will use it at any time that's convenient. That's not even to mention Gerry-mandering and voter suppression, the later completely based upon lies. Racism is deep in American, and the Republican party plays it very skillfully.
6
Thomas Mann and Norman Ornstein, the go-to guys when it comes to scholarship on congress, have always said that job one for these folks is getting re-elected. Everything they do is channeled within the walls of that purpose. In that light, the 2018 election put the handwriting on the wall. King was their easiest bigot to be "shocked,shocked"! about because he came very close to getting picked off anyway in the last election. As the tide continues to turn, the GOP members of congress will magically begin to find higher principles and stiffer spines. Things that didn't matter before will begin to become more and more unacceptable. Shape up or ship out is going to happen more often.
1
Nevertheless Iowans keep electing him. Why do we let them have such an outsize influence in choosing party nominees?
3
“Despite... all the principles that [Republicans] have betrayed”?!
What principles exactly?
The awful GOP is un-American and must die out entirely and perhaps a new party will emerge from the ashes, but probably not; its demise is imminent and devoutly to be desired by the majority of the country, and it should be shuttered and obliterated before they destroy even more of our democratic way of life with their racism, bigotry, meanness, and lack of culture and civility.
4
if re elected it will say as much about his district as it does him
4
Republicans chose a racist to lead their party, and they continue to support him --a textbook example of what it means to be a racist. Despite what they might be saying now, racism does have a place in the party of Lincoln.
5
“Pragmatism” is not a dirty word, in my view. The goal of getting something done and the means used to get it done are basic consideration in regard to pragmatism. But there is also the issue of integrity which distinguished ethical from unethical pragmatism. Within the former the means used to achieve the goal do not violate one’s conscience, nor cast aside one’s principles. Unethical pragmatism is not troubled by such consideration and achieving the goal is pursued by any means necessary without the burden of integrity. It is sometimes difficult to clearly determine if ethical and unethical pragmatism is being carried out because emotion is entangled deeply in relation to goals we care about and rationalization covers over the violation of conscience.
3
Remember that King keeps a Confederate flag on his desk. If his racist views are not challenged, the divisions in USA will continue to increase. His mind is stuck in the 1860s and maybe he needs to move to Alabama. He does NOT represent the views of most Iowans and he has not done much to help us during his 16 years in Congress.
5
NOT impressed with Republicans response, and especially that obstructionist McConnell!! Indeed how convenient. Elected Republicans are learning from Trump how to deflect and change the subject. Disgraceful!!! You nailed it Frank Bruni.........
2
Since he keeps the Stars and Bars on his desk, Mr King should visit Civil War graves and apologize to those Iowans killed in order to protect the Union.
4
Nice takedown, Frank.
The Republican viewpoint, since at least the sixties, has basically been:
Racism, fine.
Really overly overt Racism that doesn't have plausible deniability and can't be spun into something less publicly embarrassing, not so fine. Might have to replace you with someone who knows how to subtext better.
And, of course, the degree of tolerance for such overt racism is in direct proportion to the current political fortunes of the espouser.
5
Once again, you have succinctly and articulately nailed the issue on the head:
So they’re [Republicans] taking on King instead of taking on Trump. It’s safer. That’s what this is really about: the sacrifice of one wretched bigot to atone for the indulgence of another; an opportunity for moral preening after so much moral surrender. This has less to do with courage than with convenience.
60
God knows politicians aren't perfect. It's for good reason that they are often referred to snarkily as the second-oldest profession in the world, which is unfair, by comparison, to the oldest. In reality, they are of the same cloth, selling themselves for money. If forced to choose between the lesser of the two on the basis of relative morality, I'll choose the oldest.
It has become increasingly about the company politicians keep. Their abiding motivation, for the most part, is to secure their sinecures and propel themselves into greater and greater positions of power. It is no longer about representing the people, per se. It is about representing their own interests while using the people to enable them to do so.
The Steve Kings of the world have always existed in the Republican Party, which has been reluctant, to be relatively kind about it, in to condemn such individuals. In turn, the Kings among its ranks are, like Donald Trump, recalcitrant to the nth degree and enabled by the party's general silence.
That silence, for the most part, has become deafening. The Republican Party doesn't abhor bigotry. It tolerates and even enables it, while denying that it is doing so. It is only when it feels that its power is threatened by ne'er-do-wells like King, and Trump for that matter, that it reluctantly springs into action.
2
Welcome back, Frank!
This is truly one of the GOP's finest DUH moments.
King has been a basket case racist idiot since conception spouting off whenever he felt like it, and the GOP didn't hear, see or smell it? What has caused the republicans suddenly to get their backs up over this small fool?
Is it possible the GOP worries about the off-white vote?
Is is possible the GOP will ever 'discover' and condemn the racism, white supremacy and other despicable lunacy of their president?
I guess when they were pounded in the election, the republicans might have had something remotely resembling a thought that they truly are the party of stupid.
Stupid is best thing you can say about that party when it exhibits so much other remarkable ugliness.
2
Did you ever wonder how "good Germans" could stand idly by while hate was on the march as Hitler demonized the Jews in the prelude to world war? Comes 2019 and as hate and white nationalism are allowed to metastisize, we liberals and our conservative friends with a conscience, stand idly by and shake our heads in horror as this President ewith the support of his base, dismantles the international alliances that have kept the peace, secured Europe, and kept the world's nuclear arsenals sheathed. When will it be time for "good Americans" to step up and take to the streets in peaceful protest against this evil which grips our national government? Our national pass time of waiting for Mueller is starting to feel like waiting for Godot as we intone how we need to act, but in the interim "nothing to be done".
2
One name in response: Robert Byrd. Think King will ever be majority leader and the king of the pork barrel?
Thank you, Mr. Bruni. My sentiments exactly.
1
Thank you for your clear-eyed analysis.
The GOPers in other words didn't do this out of some moral conviction, it was just about the potential for losing power. My what a surprise.
5
Republicans have taken this long— 16 years— to criticize Steve King for two reasons. First, they basically agree with much of what he says. Many may not agree with his most extreme white supremacist attitudes, but they are willing to over look that for someone who openly laments and hates the existence of non-white people in America. Second, King is now a political liability because #45 is so openly racist that he has put them in the political crosshairs and a presidential election is coming up in 20 months. So they don't want a drag on their votes from someone who raises such a public fuss with his hatred. If it were not for the election, they would continue to remain as quiet as they have been for 16 years.
And this situation is amplified here in Iowa where all the biggest Republicans have been so cozy with King for years, but are only now this week wringing their hands. The Governor happily had King as her campaign chairman two short months ago and is now all tsk, tsk. At the last election Senator Grassley said, basically, "I love Steve King, I want Steve King in Congress, I need Steve King in Congress." Our other Senator Joni Ernst said, basically, well nothing, because she never does. She panders to every single thing Mitch wants and appears not to have any convictions, except, of course, for hauling in buckets full of money from the NRA. Their hypocrisy for criticizing Steve King yesterday is crystalline in the air for all to see.
2
Well it's so nice that Republicans have re-defined hypocrisy for the whole world to see, except of course for the Trump voters who have been brain washed by Fox News and never see it. Iowa voters elected and re-elected King. That's where the racism lies. And Ernst isn't exactly the least racist Senator in Washington. Iowa revels in its racism because there is no consequence for them. This should be a warning to Democrats that a brown person or woman candidate to beat Trump will have to overcome the now blatant racism of the country. Good luck with that.
2
If you or I had mentally disturbed sons who were acting the way Trump and King have over the course of the past two years, we’d have stopped talking to them, advised them to see a doctor, kicked them out of our house, called the cops and cut them out of our will a long time ago.
Unless we were Republicans.
In which case we would be cowards who looked the other way and betrayed our responsibility to our family.
3
@A. Stanton. Or daughters.
King is now the only Republican from Iowa now in the house. Recently all Iowa house seats were R. King barely won last year. Jodi Ernst is up in 2020 and will likely lose if these trends hold. That is why he was "disapproved" of, not censured. King's base is largely in the Dutch Calvinist part of the district, which is extremely right wing (much like the Calvinists who dominate our politics in western Michigan, such as the DeVos family), but is declining relative to more liberal parts of district such as around Ames (Iowa State U.). The Republican party already has a replacement ready in a far right professor at the very conservative Dordt College in Storm Lake. They need to get him in in 2020 and King is a liability in numbers only. The Republicans are clearly not bothered by white nationalist sentiment. It's a big chunk of their base.
2
While we're on the subject of GOP ultra-hypocrisy, I'd like to see Frank Bruni take on the master hypocrite and third most dangerous man(behind Trump and Pence) in the dark Republican woods, Senator Lindsey Graham. As it was with his defense of Kavanaugh, as it is with his support of the government shutdown, his voice yesterday at the William Barr confirmation hearings against the FBI was deplorable and deranged.
3
Apparently a
Not enough Americans have cared about the hypocricy, racism, cowardice, and corruption within the Republican Party to rid the government of this corrosive immorality. Hopefully the 2020 election will show that even the most willfully blind Voters can learn and realize the danger we are in as we move closer to the time when “things fall apart, the center cannot hold, ..... The best lack all conviction while the worst are full of passionate intensity. “
The party of Lincoln disappeared years ago. You repubs can try to reclaim the honor of Lincoln's party but you have a very long road to actually doing so.
WE know your rheteric is toothless. If you mean it, show us first by setting up nonpartiian districting commissions in every state. At the same time adopt and enforce laws to ensure every American can vote, whether in person or by mail in the weeks leading up election day.
2
Well said! The theatrics are sickening. You can see the puppet strings flying, and every once in a while you see a slight wink that reminds us that politics are, after all, theatrics.
2
Holding that seat was far more important to the GOP than King's overt racism, just as Trump's racism was OK, so long as he won.
The GOP, since at least Lee Atwater's cynical bomb-throwing in the '80s, has been preaching sermons of fear and hate in order to win power.
The GOP made Trump, King, Roy Moore, etc inevitable. Their too-late condemnation is simply more of the same cynical approach to gain and hold power.
2
During election season, RAW MEAT racial fearmongering dog whistle “Southern Strategy”...right after the election it’s “The Cute Strategy”. That is, promote racism to get elected, do a little something with no consequence to give slight plausible deniability right after an election.
Rinse and repeat.
Nothing new here, move along! Republicans have used Nixon's racist "southern-strategy" since its inception in 1968.
2
The voters are as self-interested as the politicians they elect and the politicians reflect the the mindsets of the voters who elected them. King's district is as guilty as he.
3
See columns like this are why we have such bitter partisanship. Couldn't we, for once, say "hurray for the Republicans for doing the right thing" as opposed to "why did it take so long"? Why would anyone have incentive to change positions if all they ever get is criticism from the other side?
Signed,
A liberal who thinks King is lower than the low.
@MMiller. They did the right thing for the wrong reasons. Self interest and self preservation.
Steve King is small potatoes. The GOP has been playing races off against each other for decades. Not just races, but socioeconomic classes, the sick versus the healthy, the employed versus those who aren't, and business against citizens. In each case the winner(s) is usually white, rich, male, a large donor to the GOP or a particular member, and a reactionary.
I never thought I'd say these things about a major political party but the GOP is not a party that is serving America. It is self serving, racist, reactionary, and has distinct dictatorial and autocratic tendencies. I hope that every one of them is turned out of office in 2020, particularly the Toddler in Chief and his nanny, Mike Pence.
3
For Mitch McConnell to even suggest that King's statements are not reflective of the republican party is ridiculous. The republicans are the poster children for both racism and hypocrisy. Good job!
2
One admirable trait of Republicans is that they have no shame. I use the term "admirable" because I am truly fascinated at the ability of Republicans to change positions and take the opposite view, even one week later, without a hint of embarrassment or discomfort.
So it comes as no surprise that Republicans are finally turning on Steve King only because they have found fresh meat in Iowa. But they will always be known and remembered for looking the other way when their colleagues spewed racist venom and for fiddling while America burned under Donald Trump.
Bravo, Mr. Bruni. Exactly so. I am totally unimpressed by the GOP.
I am also unimpressed by Democrat Kirsten Gillibrand's reported plan to enter the race for 2020 after she led the troops in forcing Al Franken to resign.
2
This takes me back to Trent Lott's comment at Strom Thurmond's 100th birthday party, when he said, before cameras and mics, that the U.S. could have avoided "all these problems" if Thurmond had been elected president in 1948.
Much vapors and pearl-clutching ensued from Republicans. They weren't horrified at the racism. They were horrified that Lott had pulled back the curtain on the party's racism.
It's much the same today.
Hey, the GOP can use a little whitewashing. But don’t expect any implications for Trump — Trump is the Messiah needed to keep Republicans glued to Twitter and Fox and Limbaugh and the NRA etc etc. Without that, who knows— maybe real facts in place of alternative facts??
1
Does anybody else feel nauseated? I can’t imagine how far this thing will have to go before we all say ENOUGH!
2
When I was an undergraduate, many decades ago, i wrote a paper on the the political far right written by an extremely prominent sociologist. I continue to the information from that book to argue that the anti-democratic, fascistic right has always been an under-current in the United States. What were, and are, anomalies are the progressive movements necessary to move the country forward.
Progressive movements need to have the freedom spaces to thrive and, currently, these are becoming fewer and fewer. But, I think there is still hope that we will be able to expand these with the new generation of progressives in the Congress.
Let us hope that this spreads to the broader social atmosphere.
Too bad the recently birthed GOP conscience doesn't extend to Trump and his supporters as well.
3
Why aren't they censuring the President, Steve Miller and the riot of racist in the White House?
5
Oops, a Republican let his racism show so bad even rich White people and Trumpists can't turn away. Get rid of him, he blows it for the rest of the party, who code their racism, and try to pass it off as "common sense", while using use an imbecilic wall to proclaim it loud and clear.
1
Republicans exposing themselves as opportunistic hypocrites? That's unpossible!
1
It's understandable that King's bigotry should eclipse everything else about him that is vile but it's also important that voters recognize just how vile King is with respect to animal welfare. This is a man who, to farm bills, routinely attaches amendments that would reverse most if not all of the minimal protections for animals already in place and demanded by a majority of voters. He has opposed legislation intended to limit the most horrific abuses of puppy mills and he even opposed legislation banning dog-fighting and cock-fighting. But let's not just blame King for his reprehensible, disgusting and immoral beliefs and statements. The voters of his district who put him in office are just as culpable.
3
There must be at least one racist in the Democrat Party. That’s for sure. But the Republican Party is where all the Dixiecrats ran to. So as far as racists go, the republicans have the majority, and of course their racist in chief.
1
It's a slippery slope, oh members of the GOP. Censure one bigot, and there's another in the wings. Or the West Wing.
If congressional terms were limited, the maintenance of power would be less of an issue. In the eyes of the founders, it was assumed that people would serve in congress for a time...and then go home to tend to the farm. Two centuries later, we have created a career political class, intent on holding on to their stipends, come hell or high water.
Now that the House is under Democratic control King and his vote are no longer crucial to the GOP. He is dispensable, now conveniently used by his own party. A pragmatic decision taken by Republicans who suddenly find on the floor the integrity they collectively tossed some years ago, to be precise let's say two, and now pay smug lip service to the evils of racism as espoused by one they once stood behind. Cruz the political chameleon without spine is one such example. Still, the GOP continues its control of the Senate and so goes the other racist, Trump, unscathed by any meaningful GOP censure. Shameful hypocrisy of the highest order.
1
Hardly a lamb, but it does appear he is being conveniently sacrificed on the newly decorated Republican altar.
1
As abhorrent as Steve King's beliefs are, and as abhorrent as the Republican Party's focus on expedience is, what is equally abhorrent are the people who elected this racist bigot. King didn't elect himself and, as such, truly does represent "the people" who elected him...and that's an awfully sad commentary on the people of this country who supported and elected King, and those who supported and elected Trump. We have been told how "exceptional" Americans are...but that "exceptionalism" is a lack of civility, tolerance, understanding, and compassion. We are an exceptional people; however, it's probably time to be less "exceptional" and just try to be decent, caring citizens.
So, you want honor among thieves?
It is past time for the Republican Party to go by way of the Whig Party,
1
@Louis A. Carliner
More like the Know-Nothings.
Gerrymandering is bigotry and it's Republican policy at the state level.
With white nationalism spreading in the United States and police officers shooting at Afro-Americans without any valid reason, Black Americans should seriously consider the possibility of emigrating. Last week I met an Afro-American man from Texas when I was in Chicago. I told him that it would be much safer for him if he moved to Canada or any European country. He had never been outside the United States, but his face lit up with hope for a better life when he heard for the first time that other countries are less racist than America.
1
They didn't actually cut King. They simply took him out of the starting rotation and sent him out to the bullpen. Just in case. You just never know when the voters would prefer a dyed in the wool racist. After all they have been voting for this guy for years.
Trump could demand he run again. Something could always be uncovered about his replacement like he was sexually abusing young girls he met at the mall. You should always have someone close at hand who knows how to energize the voters.
This is backwards.
The long-standing tolerance for King and the blind eye turned to Trump's racist blathering are not indications of amoral pragmatism. Nor is the current response to King a belated expression of integrity.
The long-standing tolerance reveals the truth, not a pragmatic concession. And the current response is not a belated expression of integrity - it is a pragmatic concession.
The attitudes expressed by King and Trump are GOP policy. Gerrymandering, suppression of voting rights, opposition to affirmative action, shredding of social programs, siting of polluting facilities, re-segregation of schools, disparate funding of schools by racial composition of neighborhoods . . . There are more examples.
These things are the ugly offspring of the Southern Strategy. They are the beliefs of nearly all Republicans. It's just a matter of degree and the subtlety of language.
KIng provided an enormous service to the Republican: condemn him, and claim he's not one of us. It's such a convenience that you could be tempted to think that King, somehow, was recruited to spew this hatred, just so that the Republicans could condemn him and differentiate themselves. Quite sharp of Frank Bruni anyway to note the rampant hypocrisy.
2
Gangsters of the highest order. Maybe that's doing a disservice to gangsters everywhere...
1
The Republicans were SHOCKED to learn there is racism in their party.
1
"There were good people on both sides"...and from the republicans...nothing! Selective indignation?
You cannot make this stuff up.
Why stop there, and where is the line?
Two new members of the House are clearly anti Semitic because they said so, many times.
Now two US Senators are anti Catholic. Bigotry does not have a political party.
The Republican party only stands for three things- greed, racism, and a lust for power. That's it. Everything else is posturing and window dressing. Though, to be fair, Republicans have pretty much done away with all of that since 2016. They're a party of brazen, greedy racists, happy to crawl into bed with anyone- even international adversaries- if it means they can expand their chokehold on power, and wring even more money out of our economy into their bank accounts. Any words or actions to the contrary are just for show. The Republican party is diseased, morally vacuous shell of a political party. It's time for it to go away for a long, long time.
"Trump’s own racist behavior and remarks — including, in the run-up to the midterm elections, his proud embrace of the term “nationalist”...
Mr. Bruni, I guess you are better versed on the meaning of words, seeing as you have a newspaper column and all, because most educated people do not associate "nationalist" with racism any more than they associate "chauvinist" with sexism.
In other words: You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.
The President's racism is something to be supported. Lets look at Donald Trump's racist wall and all the racist lies about immigrants that Trump uses for the support.
Racism equals Republican. How the party of Lincoln fell to being the party of hate.
The real complaint against King by the Republicans is that he didn't use the GOP-approved racist dog whistles.
1
He forgot to use the word illegal. What’s wrong with this guy?
Wouldn't it be nice if King were to, in effect, turn "states evidence", and denounce all those who threw him under the bus for their hypocrisy and their own racism?
When Ernst was asked about King, ‘she wasn’t up to speed,’ when trump was asked, he, too, wasn’t up to speed. With trump, we know it’s because he’s a fellow racist and liar. With Ernst (and Grassley), it’s cowardice.
All this righteous indignation is laughable. Not one of the Reps has the backbone of a jellyfish. Can’t wait till 2020 when we see a new administration and new Senate. What goes around, comes around.
And we all know how much trump feels the pain of the unpaid federal workers...
It's the silent and lying racists - "oh I'm not racist I have a friend that's black"- (conservative AND liberal) that I worry about.
Who are all of the racists and white male supremacists and religious fanatics in the GOP? Americans deserve to know the names of every one of them who hold office. The NRA has a report card. Where is the report card for racists and white male supremacists and religious fanatics who demand compliance with their beliefs?
1
Trump is the Judas Goat leading them off the deep end of racism and bigotry while Steve King is the sacrificial lamb. Animal herding techniques for the stockyards of political relevancy.
1
Ernst is up for re-election in 2020, so her support of King could jeopardize her status as well, hence her sudden development of a conscience. Here's hoping that these two actually DON'T represent their constituency, as Iowans online are suddenly exclaiming.
1
I don’t agree with the man’s opinion, but he is entitled to it, since when is an American citizen, elected or not, not able to express his views, pretty scary .....
1
He is a government representative and the GOP is in the process of attacking immigrants. They are starting a race war and they are trying to hide it. They don’t want the cart to get in front of the horse.
They eventually abandoned McCarthy too, didn’t they? It’s expediency and holding onto a “safe seat” that motivates them, that and cowardice. How they sleep well at night or look in the mirror in the morning is beyond me. The faces change, the Congress stays the same.
1
Spot on Mr Bruni.
Let's not forget that Ronald Reagan used the racist lies of 'young bucks' and 'welfare queens' in Cadillacs picking up their government cheques -- following on in Nixon's Southern Strategy footsteps (and parading his own racism). Let's not forget Reagan's embrace of and solicitation to evangelical Christians like Jerry Falwell, Sr., who had started a segregation academy and whose university discouraged interracial relationships.
Let's not forget George H W Bush's Willie Horton ads.
Or Jesse Helms' virulent racism.
Or Strom Thurmond's.
Or Trent Lott's statement that Thurmond ought to have been President.
For decades, the GOP has been as infused with racism as the Democratic Party was a hundred years earlier.
Donald Trump is the logical conclusion to the Republican journey. Steve Smith is a part of it.
The Republicans created them and nourished them.
They own them.
Let me preface by saying the Dems are no beacon of coherence. But the Republicans' chickens, with Trump, have come home to roost. What truly bothered me is a recent Times article that described Mitch McConnell as a "wily tactician." HERE IS THE PROBLEM. Congress, afflicted with ADS used to think in 18-month election cycles. But McConnell, much more than his predecessors, has reduced everything to day-to-day tactics. Taking a page from Joe Lieberman's book, his reasoning is: 'I just got re-elected. You can't touch me for six years.' King is emblematic of an illness. Cruz, too. But they are not the illness. Only its worse manifestation.
2
Endorsing powerful racists is not just a Republican practice. Countless liberals and Progressives supported Woodrow Wilson, a prominent racist, in the 1912 election.
It's difficult to make a distinction between Republican support for King and Democratic support for Wilson. In both cases, pragmatism outweighed racial justice.
Political opportunism often makes for unseemly political bedfellows. And you can't condemn the goose without condemning the gander.
1
You’re kidding right. Is anyone alive from that time? You believe the Democratic Party and the voting base of that period is the same as today? That’s inane.
The penultimate paragraph says it all - take on someone who has minimal power [now none]. Republican's version of transference I guess. And in a while we will probably hear talking points about how Republicans are serious about having an all-inclusive party using King as the poster child.
1
The GOP would have totally ignored Steve King's comments if they hadn't lost the House.
1
The GOP has wonderful words that I agree with in concept when the person in question is a Democrat or a fellow Republican who finally wanders so far off the reservation they need to cut ties.
But every other time they just ignore those admirable concepts in favor of their party. Democrats aren’t innocent bystanders, but rarely reach the level of hypocrisy Republicans routinely employ and expect us accept.
Mitch McConnell is the poster child for such behavior with Jeffrey Beauregard Sessions a close second.
Redemption by proxy really doesn't cut it, but it would make a nice start.
If between this, the dangers of the Brexit debacle, and the minute-to-minute revelations about Burger Boy's woefully uninformed musings about pulling us out of NATO the Rs even begin to start scratching their heads and finding some shame for their relentless pandering to the lowest common denominator with their race-baiting, xenophobia, poverty shaming and (fill-in-the-blanks) , I will allow myself a glimmer of hope.
In 2018 it was confirmed that many who voted for Trump weren't the "faithful". Let those believers take Steve King back into their fold.
At the risk of sounding hopelessly naïve, I would like to think that maybe now we can have a Republican Party that is again the loyal opposition instead of what they are not and never should be; the enemy.
David Laufman has sent out a clarion call to action, but he wasn't very specific. What I see is that our system was created in an era when everything, by it's nature, moved very slowly relative to today.
Maybe that needs to change. Maybe we need a referendum system for times like this. We sure need something because waiting around for greed and a lust for power to disappear isn't working.
1
Unfathomable. That the GOP is playing water boy to the raging child in chief. Trump is, has been and always will be in this for one person. Himself. He is a lazy man whose sole purpose in life is to assuage his own frail ego. This effort, given his lack of knowledge about, well, just about everything, is a Herculean effort. For this, you've got to give the guy credit. Every breath he takes, every move he makes has no forethought or strategic intent other than to prove, prove, prove...he's the BIG MAN. This "popular madman", the manifestation of the description of the person the electoral college was created to keep from office, MUST GO.
2
Racism is a useful arrow in the quiver of the Russo-Republican-Oligarch world we find ourselves in. So is Citizens United, and all forms of propaganda from our current puppet player, Vlad.
Either we descend into chaos, which is not far off or some citizens show some back bone. Time to deal with traitors to democracy. The GOP .the NRA, the Chamber of Commerce, the 1% , the NYSE , the monopolies, the Lobbyist, etc.
Why? 45 said there are good people on both sides.
The Republicans have let Steve King go unchecked all this time, because they agreed with him, and still do. They embraced him and Trump who made racism and xenophobia the center of his campaign strategy. This business with King will be swept under their dirty carpet and they will feign outrage until after the 2020 election. Nothing has changed. They have not suddenly had an epiphany other than one of convenience.
1
This is all about simple math.
Some of the higher functioning republicans can still do basic addition, and they have known for generations that they need the type of supporters that the Steve King's of the party speak to.
Without those people, they simply did not have enough bodies to win elections.
For them to come out now with this strong of a rebuke is a clear indication that they have hit the panic button.
They not only see an almost certain presidential loss coming down the tracks in 2020, but a very real concern about the Democrats retaking the senate and losing control of all the branches.
It's a pathetically insincere charade, they could not care less about "bigotry", but they are going to try to serve up Mr. King as an "offering" to symbolically "purge" the party of the "horrible scourge" of racism. LOL!
If you buy that, I'd like to sell you the old Tappan Zee Bridge that's now in a watery grave in the Hudson.
1
Perhaps the Republicans recognize that trump — and their support of trump, now as he threatens to destroy the economy he took credit for — is the most potent argument AGAINST white supremacy there is to date.
Excising the lesion that is Steve King is at best an act of false bravado in the face of the malignant cancer that is their brand.
The Party, along with the president they embraced and before whom they cower, is failing. A much bigger amputation is required to survive.
2
King was punished because the Republicans knew that King would be censured by the Dems. That’s the long and short of it.
For two years we have watched Republicans ignore the worst aspects of Donald Trump including a sordid history. Why? Because his unfiltered speech and Tweets echo what the leaders in the party actually think and support, but are afraid to voice. Let the crazy guy take the heat. If there was any intestinal fortitude in the GOP, it would have tethered Trump during the last 24 months.
It doesn't, and that says a lot.
2
Congressional Republicans found the courage to denounce King finally. And conveniently. How much lower does Mr. Trump have to drag their party before the same Congressional Republicans denounce him? Considering their behavior over the past two-plus years and their giving Mr. Trump passes on everything, perhaps there is no bottom. How convenient.
When it comes to a choice between governing and electioneering, Congress, led by the likes of Mitch McConnell, has obviously decided on which side its bread is buttered. Let's hope the new members will take a different view.
2
"Less to do with courage than with convenience" This does seem also a reaction to King as a stand in, a surrogate for Trump that serves to assuage consciences of those in Congress that have to look at themselves in the mirror. Maybe also these leaders are bothered by answering to those numbers in their constituencies, perhaps growing for two years, for their support of Trump.
1
Thank you, Frank. Beautifully articulated, as usual.
1
Frank, it took you to the end of this piece to hit the target. The trouble isn't the Steve Kings of this world. They can and will rant all day and night on internet forums. The problem is Donald Trump and a wealthy one percent who are so happy and satisfied with their St.Barts vacations, and villas and Hamptons digs and Vail or the Swiss alps and all the perks of great wealth.
They are the Trump enablers, and contributors to the GOP, not little ranting nobodies from northwest Iowa or an internet stream.
4
"I want to see someone who is going to make our country great again, which is basically the same thing as Steve."
"special guy, a smart person, with really the right views on almost everything."
"Our ideologies are so in sync" "We don't have to compare notes."
Donald Trump in 2014 at a fundraiser for Steve King
Where's all the outrage from the GOP over Trump?
i
5
As usual, Mr. Bruni has it spot on. Any further comments to his article would be simply icing on the cake.
It is about time that some of the Republican members of Congress are owning up to their own faults.
2
"We’re now months after the election, and Republicans have already identified a primary challenger for King in 2020, someone who they believe can keep his seat in the party’s hands."
So, that could be just about anyone who feels the same as King but will be more subtle in their messaging.
4
It's a great start for the rebuke of Representative King, but it would be better if the Republicans would also openly rebuke the President of the United States.
7
I have read a lot about Steve King. I would like to read a profile of the people who repeatedly elected him. That is as much a story as how the GOP hierarchy is trying to save face.
8
Marvelous delicacy on the Republican side. From Trump on down, where the "beautiful wall" is all about keeping this country white, white supremacy has been powerful motivation brimming into plain view. But King -- having served his purpose -- now offers a marvelous scapegoat, allowing a cathartic cleaning of the Republican soul, in effect saying: Never would be support such a ghastly vision of America.
2
The word Republican should not be used again until the party stops backing Trump. They should be referred to as "the party of Trump"
until real Republicans come forward and stop this madness.
Down with the party of Trump and what they stand for.
7
@LM. What a bizarre concept. You’re really going to have a problem in 2020.
This is Lindsey Graham in 2000: "This resolution is nothing more than partisan political grandstanding. Even though I disagree with some of the policies and views expressed by BJU, religious freedom in American allow for such views to be held and legislative condemnation can have a very chilling effect on religious liberties." The resolution, for those who are wondering, condemned Bob Jones University for its anti-interracial dating policy. This guy is a paragon of establishment Republicanism. Racially bigoted attitudes are not fringe opinions in the GOP. They are mainstream. The Party of Lincoln died a long time ago.
13
@GPL14, each time the Republican Party refers to themselves as The Party of Lincoln, a nauseating feeling stirs within me.
my stomach churned when i read that mitch mcconnell stated he thinks rep. steve king should "find another line of work." when i think of the complete and total failure in mcconnell's oath of office, to represent the constitution, along with the dignity and compassion of the presidency, my stomach kept on churning until i lost it. such hypocrisy is the symbol of the republican party, nothing more, nothing less. what dignity do we have left when we allow these sycophants to rule? we have no dignity left.
17
white supremacist, white nationalist:
abhorrent. as for defending western
civilization, the civilization which gave
us Shakespeare, Leonardo, Goethe,
Dante etc...what IS wrong with that?
no civilization has ever come close
to giving us this level of genius.
I am tired of hearing about old white
men and women.we should separate
derogatory racist comments from
legitimate defense of our great culture.
4
@Frank No one should feel compelled to defend "their" culture because all great cultures belong to the world. They have impacted all of us in ways we don't even realize. Arabia and the Islamic world, in all its iterations, has given the world amazing things in the fields of mathematics - we use Arabic numerals, for instance - astronomy, medicine, literature and architecture. China gave the world printing, paper and the compass (also gunpowder). We should stop dividing accomplishments into Western Civilization and Eastern Civilization. Are we not already sufficiently divided, balkanized, "tribalized" in the world? Constant division is what leads to one group feeling superior to all others which eventually leads to racism, Naziism and all the other depressing isms. I am so tired of hearing about that.
2
@Frank
So exactly why do you think this “great culture” you speak of needs defending?
I went to high school in northwest Iowa and encountered people like Steve King every day. I have not gone back there in 20 years. Why? Willful ignorance. Belligerence. Glee at white nationalism. Most importantly, people living in fear, never traveling, and unwilling to change due to their uneducated lives. Rinse and repeat.
12
I grew up in rural Missouri and experienced the same circumstances you describe. Those few of us who went to college were said to have,"gone away to school", and that made us different. I go back every year to put flowers on my parent's graves. Nothing changes. A time capsule from city limit to city limit...they're not bad people, they just aren't of this century.
9
It is so ironic to target this one truly honest Republican for speaking his mind on behalf of the majority of Republicans and quite a few democrats too who hypocritically are acting to be politically correct to look good. Why Donald Trump would not tweet a word on this issue when he never misses a chance to look stupid on a daily basis ? Because Steven King actually represents him better than any one else in politics . It is naive to think that Donald Trump is the President today because of just Russian influence !
5
Finally this racist embarrassment from my state is being recognized for the hateful bigot he is. He has pretty much sounded like Trump from the beginning, but Trump still gets away with it. Maybe we should ask WHY?
13
@Mary Dalrymple. So then who elects him?
Failing New York Times, give McConnell, Ryan, Cruz, and Republican political powers a break. It's *hard* to find a way to precisely condemn Rep. King while not losing the white supremacist, bigot, and racist vote blocs. Those are important parts of the Republican Big Tent coalition, and it wouldn't do to put morals and principles ahead of votes and political "wins" now, would it? This kind of thing has to be done really sensitively, so as not to offend the 'rank and file' (or should I say 'robe and hood') members of the Republican "base". They're important to Trump, they're proud to be "nationalists", and they're votes that Republicans need to not push away, no matter how small-minded, bigoted, racist, and vile their hearts may be. Every vote counts, whether neo-Nazi, KKK, white nationalist, or even just that person "who lives in a nice neighborhood, and doesn't want those kind of people lowering property values". Certainly Republican leadership doesn't want to offend the "share our values" voters. Rep. King stands out among many Republicans mainly for finally getting censured - most of the politicians mouth the right sentiments but fail the test of backing their words with actions and behaviors when it counts. So Rep. King getting even this moderate 'punishment' (but keeping his seat) is just trying to parse the fine line just right.
5
I agree that the Republicans are total hypocrites here, but how many times have I had to watch Mr. King spew his racist filth on CNN and other main stream media outlets over and over again as an invited guest? Where was everybody then? Talk about hypocritical. The media is just as culpable as the Republican Party in many respects for giving this bigot an air of respectability by having him on their programs and treating him with kid gloves, never once calling him out for the racist he is and disinviting him. No, they would remain politely mute, not wanting to risk their access journalism, and then have him back again. Jeffrey Lords is another bigot CNN had no hesitation to keep inviting back on after outrageous bigotry. And speaking of bigotry, it seem the acceptable punching bag for bigots of the liberal persuasion is now "old white men", aka, Bernie Sanders. Really, who says that kind of thing and is not called out for it? But apparently there is a selective bigotry that is deemed safe.
5
Exactly right! Republicans are throwing one racist representative under the bus to avoid dealing with the bigger issue. The racist in the White House. Just another distraction.
15
There's one thing that Rep King is quoted here as saying that defensible -- that white people have contributed more to civilization than others. I don't think there would be the outrage if he had said Europeans and Americans. Because it's basically true. Since about 1700, when scientific method began to be baked into the West, white people have left others behind. Most of what we call civilization today is due to the Enlightenment that took hold in Europe in the 18th century.
2
Frank is absolutely right: the Republicans need to win elections to keep their most important 'interest group,' the very top of the income pyramid, happily gorging at the government trough.
Getting creamed in a national election tends to focus the minds of the losers, and it may have occurred to a few GOP politicians that survival in a party headed by an unpredictable head-case may require, from time to time, a few safe, middle-of-the-road gestures calculated for personal advantage.
Anyway, we'll find out in less than two years if King's current detractors are sincere if, presumably, he runs for reelection and asks for their support.
2
Especially if he runs for a Senate seat.Watch out, Joanie Ernst.
Interesting that Ernst endorsed King in 2018. If the Dems are serious about taking back the Senate and thus the Supreme Court in 2020 they should take full advantage and make this connection a major campaign issue in Ernst's re-elect in Iowa in 2020. Make the Republicans pay dearly for supporting Steve King and his ilk for decades.
8
Indeed, how convenient. We all see through it and we all have long memories. Unless the GOP removes Trump via impeachment or indictment, it will be recorded in history as a GOP public relations stunt.
7
Shows how scared of Mueller's hard proof that Trump's Putin's hand-puppet traitor in the Oval Office Republicans really are. Before long, they'll be passing gun control legislation, in their stampede to save their tails in 2020 from the post-Mueller Dem tsunami that will make post-Watergate for Republicans look like nothing.
4
Q: What is a 10-letter synonym for coward.
A: OK, that was too easy. How about a specific coward in only 4 letters.
Harder? Hint: Ted.
Ted Cruz's willfully blind duplicity and conveniently short memory regarding Steve King is particularly galling. Texas is stuck with this place-holder as one of its Senators for six more years. If he accomplishes as much of significance in the coming six as he did in the last half-dozen, it will be for no lack in his lack of trying.
King's rhetoric is arguably the template for Donald Trump's positions on race.
No, King is not an anomaly among the elected Republican legislators in Washington. He is, today, the scape-goat of his erstwhile colleagues, differing only in degree but not in substance from the majority of them. It is enough for them to say, "At least I'm not like King." Racism measured by degree, not binarily. The one-drop rule, in a manner of speaking, has been shunned by the Republicans, as they take stock of themselves.
4
@Glen Well put.
thanks to Mr. Bruni for reminding us of the ( obvious ) reasons for punishing King NOW.
and another thanks is for reminding us ( how can we forget !? ) what politics is all about :
Pragmatism, expedience and the maintenance of power are the real monarchs of politics — and not just among Republicans.
do you really think that the founding fathers had THESE scenarios in mind when they established the country ?! i sure have my doubts.
1
This is one of your best.
5
Both King and Trump are symptoms of the existential decay of the Republican Party. The GOP has spent decades perfecting a strategy of divisiveness. The party has used racism, homophobia, abortion, misogyny, xenophobia, denigration of the poor, voter suppression, characterizing Democrats as enemies of the country not political opponents, etc to win elections. They have distilled and cultivated the most ignorant and degenerate segment of our society as their base. King and Trump do represent the philosophy of the modern GOP. The only way to save our country and its values is to vote Republicans out of office.
7
Too little, too late. Remember Jos McCarthy in the 1950s - lots of damage caused - very little accountability. And oh, some relation to Trump here when you think of it.
2
GOP, jumping up, waving hands and shouting, "Over here, over here!" as they are pushing Steve King out the door.
All the while providing cover for the racist misogynist who is baby-ranting about his border wall.
Millions of people are affected by this government shutdown. It is time for all Americans to pressure McConnell out of his shell in order to pass the legislation in front of him and to tell Trump if he doesn't sign it they will override his veto.
It is time to bully the bully.
16
Under Ryan there would be no vote to condemn King or any of their own. So there is no reason to go on the record condemning King and so would have just swept it under the Republican rug. With Pelosi and the Dems, in control Republicans can't dodge the question and have to go on record since they will have to vote.
So much "wrong that they have abetted and must answer for." But there are no answers for such wrongs! How do you answer for providing aid and comfort to a Russian agent and leader of your party? "With his ignorance" and knowledge of his Russian obligations, trump is a planetary level threat.
3
A half century ago, Barry Goldwater graced the GOP with the imprimatur of extremism and the Republicans have been embracing one extremist cause after another ever since: Anti-abortion. Gun 'rights'. Evangelical religion. Nascent racism, i.e., The Southern Strategy and 'states' rights'. Defunding government at all levels, especially for education and welfare. And on and on. Plus the extremist media--Clear Channel, Fox News, Sinclair, et al. Which is, in part, why we are where we are. And the populace sleeps while the train hurtles toward the brink. (Don't bother me! I'm texting/sexting/selfing!)
5
Kudos to Frank Bruni for recognizing the cheap and easy opportunism of the suddenly holier-than-thou Republican party in their oh-so-sudden discovery of Steve Kings racism! As he so accurately pointed out, Mr. King has been at this
a very long time, but it never seemed to bother his fellow Republicans before, but here was a no-cost chance to look good, and distract from their failure to fulfull their obligations to the nation. They are unwilling, and terrified of the political consequences of assailing the Racist-in-Chief, many times more repellent than Mr. King, so they turn on the easy, safe target, and bask in their pathetic hypocrisy. Than you, Mr. Bruni, for seeing through this laughable ruse!
11
Thanks Frank! You said it perfectly! Steve King is an easy call out, but Trump has them trembling behind their desks. Cowards!
11
Take heart; the Republican Johnny Come Latelys are still white, and their condemnation is as transparent as their skin color. California Republicans were nearly wiped out in November. McCarthy would like to win his next election; period. It's not the comments, it's their racism policies that are wringing out the Republican Party. They just can't seem to help themselves in their self-segregated world. Yes, their sudden hysterics about King's remarks are way too late. But, demographic's destiny is here, and she is alive and kicking back hard.
7
Empty words from the morally and intellectually bankrupt GOP. King is far from being alone in his racism and bigotry. If indeed the Republicans really think they have convinced the vast majority of Americans that the Congressman from Iowa is the sole racist among them, then they are utterly out of touch with current reality.
8
Republicans calling out King's racism is no profile in courage, rather a profile in expediency. They have a challenger who can save King's seat, so they don't lose any political capital with outrage. The racism of the President remains off limits to Rs, but King provides a surrogate. Finally, in the wilderness of this very amoral presidency, Rs have found a moral voice. Sadly, it is a whisper in the wind.
5
"many of them yearn to make a stand" Really? It's not as if their lives are threatened like the North Korean Worker's Party members who robotically clap for their dear leader or suffer death. All Republicans have to fear is the wrath of a tweet and nickname. Indeed, the Republicans are more suited to filling the same role as the Worker's Party in the DPRK. Republicans even dream of a single party government and almost got it - even through unconstitutional means (think Gorsuch).
It's troubling that the base that supports and elected King is the same that supports and elected trump and other Republicans. Indeed, that is their core militant base - that Grassley, Ryan and McConnell do not want to cross. Not 100%, but why is it that racists, white supremacists, etc. tend to be or identify as Republican? Is it because they find a home there until it becomes inconvenient?
“white people [had done more for civilization than] any other subgroup of people" is remarkably similar to what plutocrats claim of their wealth was mostly a result of them, dismissing everyone that worked and died to get their wealth. I guess King missed the movie Hidden Figures. Surely Armstrong would not even dream he got to the moon alone or on white achievements alone.
As the GOP's advantage thru voter suppression, vote theft and reduced base size no longer guaranty wins, they'll take all the racists, supremacists, Israelis (Netanyahu's joint session of Congress) and Russians they can get to help them win.
5
Frank - thanks for another excellent column - now the question remains whether his Republican colleagues will only join Democrats in asking King be called to the well and shamed, removed from the House or asked quietly to resign.
Of course, that leaves the question open about what to do with their Party Boss’s public pronouncement that he’s a “Nationalist”, his constant stream of attacks on members of minorities and women - and the fact he owes Elizabeth “Pochahantis” Warren’s favorite charity $1 million, now that she has proven she had at least one aboriginal American ancestor.
The reason she took the silly genetic test.
I hope she divides it between cultural preservation programs for the aboriginal Nations who claim her actions offended them, programs currently being forced out of existence by The Hispanic-Americans are coming, with terrorists” paranoiac government shutdown
1
I sometimes think that the lack of guts we as Americans have in discussing 'ethnic nationalism' is why people like Steve King exist. Yes, ethnic nationalism exists all over the world. All over the world - Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Europe. But if you have been born into the USA, that is just not an appropriate view to hold.
We need to have that conversation more. If we don't, that is why the Steve King's of the world don't understand why white nationalism is not only offensive, but completely inappropriate in America.
3
The Republicans are the Party of Lincoln?
No.
The Republicans are the Party of Lincoln Rockwell.
4
Good one. As I recall, Lincoln Rockwell was head of the American Nazi Party.
2
@JSK
I think that was his thoroughly uninformed point.
I grew up in the congressional district that voted King in again and again. Many good and decent folks there so I've been aghast by this repeat and deliberate representative choice. His racist views are not something that can be ignored by any decent and moral person. Neither can Trump's.
If only there was a way to remove King, Trump and their ilk from the Great American Wild, Wooly and Wonderful Genepool and Braintrust that makes us the best of who we are as a country.
4
A slap on the wrist. If they were serious they would demand he resign. It's just for show.
6
Yet the birtherism was OK? Makes the Steve King outrage seem pretty hollow.
This is simply a way for Republicans to make themselves feel better for their aiding and abetting of Trumpism. Imaging still supporting a party that has such difficulty concluding that white supremacy is wrong.
5
A few months ago I called King's Iowa office to protest what was then his most recent bigoted remark directed toward immigrants. In the course of my "conversation" with his staff, I asked her to explain the basis for his and, as she revealed, her disdain. She told me she and the congressman were worried about the impending imposition of Sharia law in Iowa! Iowa of all places! Where 91% of the population is white.
7
Steve King is the sin-eater of the Republican Party. Expect something similar, on a larger scale, if they decide to sacrifice Trump.
1
Well I guess I can scratch the 4th district in Iowa off my bucket list of all the places I want to visit before I die And all this time I thought that the locals were such nice people. Holy smokes! Imagine what it be like to hang out there for a few days
3
On his committee assignments, King works for the entire country He can still vote on behalf of his constituents during sessions of Congress. Article One Section 5 of the U.S. Constitution lays out various rules for both houses of Congress, and grants the House of Representatives and the Senate the power to judge their own elections, determine the qualifications of their own members, and punish or even expel their own members. Members of the House who removed King from committee assignments acted within Constitutional boundaries. Members of Congress can even refuse to seat a member who has been properly elected by his/her constituents. For example, Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. (D-New York), a sitting representative, was excluded by the House of Representatives in 1967 because of allegations of corruption. He successfully sued to retain his seat in a landmark Supreme Court decision (see Powell v. McCormack). Congress can censure and expel members. I think King should be censured. The hypocrisy does bother me. Trump makes frequent racist and bigoted comments and no Republicans ever says a word condemning these anti-American statements. King hasn't said anything that Trump hasn't said.
3
I really wish we could have an honest dialogue about this. A quiet talk, perhaps in front of a gently crackling fire, free of all the animus and name-calling and label-throwing distractions that literally frustrate true communication.
This is important---vitally important---to me. Not just because I am rightfully proud to claim ancestors who've lived and died between these shores going back centuries, but because I am rightfully concerned over what is happening to "my" America.
I am not a racist. I do not wish ill will on, nor do I feel superior to, any other race on earth. But I do feel proud to be a white man in a country built by my ancestors and others like them---a country, dare I say, established principally FOR others like them.
Which is not to say that others should not feel welcome, but tell me, how would China feel if the Chinese population were to become a minority in their own land by, say, 2045. Or middle-eastern countries becoming predominantly white by the same date? The same too for entire continents now mostly Hispanic, or African. I do not even have to utter the words; you know there would be hell to pay.
So, now, it is racist of me to declare love for my own skin? It is not okay to be white? And if you think I'm exaggerating the animus towards me and others who share my ethnicity, you haven't been reading this very newspaper.
Please. We must have a meaningful conversation about this. Nothing gets more to the heart of my American existence.
3
@David Bartlett, please let me try to explain it to you, free of all animus. I have a brother who might feel as you do. Forgive me if I don't disclose too much personal information. America is the greatest country in the world. I believe this. I don't believe we are better than any other country, but we are greater. We have the greatest universities, the most wonderful scientists, and a matchless movie industry. And we have so many other greats. We are the strongest nation, and we have the greatest people. But the reason for all of this wonderfulness is the people, and the diversity of the people. While I hear you about feeling kinship to your skin, I have to hope you'll hear me, and see why America can't be a Finland or another Slavic country. We all have different destinies. America is destined to rule the world. Not take over it, but lead and guide it in the fields of medicine, technology, arts, and education. We aren't there yet, but it's our potential. I know you feel strongly about your views. All I ask is that you consider some of what I said.
1
@David Bartlett
Sorry brother. The United States is a a state of nations, not a nation state. There is no American race or ethnicity. It was created FOR white people. And already contained a multitude of non white, non English even persons. It may have been TAKEN by white people but it wasn’t MADE for white people. And “white” people may become a minority. That wouldn’t change anything about America. We would still live under the Constitution. And that’s all that matters, cause that’s what makes us American.
4
I foresee China becoming the most powerful country. They have few if any evangelicals to dumb them down. They are far more rational than the trumpster dumpster. My grandparents emigrated from Europe. I am proud of my Scottish heritage and that my grandfather shared two battlefields with Churchill in 1898 in Sudan. But these are all accidents of birth. We whitees were given every break in the world and we blew it. To give some perspective, the intellectual capital of the world about a thousand years ago was Baghdad. What goes around comes aground.
1
Yet another example of the racist/divisionist policies of the GOP. Frank, thank you for referencing the passivity of the GOP to King’s earlier and continued remarks on race — this is not new. Sadly, King and Trump are only the most manifest and offensively vocal tribe of GOP supremistis. Let’s not forget Regan’s “Welfare Queens”, Bush I’s Willie Horton ads, and Romney’s 47%. King has suddenly become a “problem” because the GOP now realizes they need to pay lip service to the problem of racism and purge their party of the ugliness. So sad.
With tonight’s news They are now bringing back indentured servitude to government workers.
2
The GOP or rather, the DTP, is losing in the polls. And Trump's racism is known to everyone, with the party right behind him. They're looking at 2020. This is why suddenly King is being censured.
2
And perhaps the sleazy hypocrite Ted Cruz could pause from “clutching his pearls” with indignation about Steve King’s latest racist statements, and explain again why, in November 2015, he shared a stage with, and warmly shook hands with the rabid homophobic pastor Kevin Swanson who repeatedly said during his diatribe, that homosexuals should receive the death penalty. There is no limit to the hypocrisy of the entire Republican party. Period.
5
Maybe King is just one of the "some of those are good people," as Trump described the racists marching on Charlottesville.
2
White supremacists are in office because they are voted in by white supremacists.
6
Great Column and spot on. The Republican party has always applauded racism in one form or another. This Steve King has been the most vocal one, with Trump a close runner up. Mitch 'do nothing but obstruct coward' McConnell, malignant Trumps blathering idiot and the rest of the odious Republican party have given white supremacist morons a legitimacy that disgraces everything our country used to stand for.
4
100% agree. the Repubs are SHOCKED, SHOCKED, that King is a racist! King is a rabid racist who is their convenient scapegoat to make it seem as they are WOKE. One would have to be pretty stupid to fall for this ruse.
4
Let me know when they stop supporting the bigot in the Oval Office.
7
King is just one more aspect of the Trump phenomenon, in this case clear and honest white supremacy without a hint of irony or sleight of hand. Trump likes to claim ignorance, denial, or that he's kidding ("I know nothing!"), whereas King is a steely eyed Aryan robot aka "red blooded American." He'd look right at home in a Nazi military uniform; he's probably got one hanging in his closet.
1
They'll be back. Racists and the people that support them never die. They always return like the flu.
3
King has been selected to be the lamb for sacrifice. They know his district will elect him again because they see nothing wrong with him. Funny the racist King was one of The Boys when The Right had the gavel. King is not bright enough to know when he is being played as the fall guy. Kings leader Trump sees nothing wrong with King. Trump sees nothing wrong with Neo Nazis'
4
“Racists bigots in our Party?! I’m shocked, shocked!”
— Senator.............(fill in the blank)
5
This guy is a modern day Trump style Republican. It is perfectly fine that he is a white nationalist racist.
The problem is that he couldn't keep his mouth shut.
3
Why did they suddenly get a conscience and a few crumbs of ethics? Could it be that they see the end of Trump is approaching and they want to put as much distance as possible between themselves and Trump? Perhaps they think their re-discovery of a sense of right and wrong will cause the voting public to forget their groveling and enabling of the worst president this country has ever seen. History will not forget them nor their perfidious behaviour.
4
Pot calling the kettle black.
2
Do Republicans seriously believe they are fooling anyone? Really? They are attacking King (decades late) in a cynical and utterly transparent attempt to avoid confronting the same behavior in their president. There is no moral fabric remaining in the GOP.
5
Kind of reminds one of Captain Renaud's (Claude Rains's) line in "Casablanca"--"I'm shocked, SHOCKED, that there's gambling going on here." Followed, of course, by a waiter handing him a a packet of cash with the line, "Your winnings, sir!"
3
The GOP – the Republican Party – is nothing if not a party for and by white supremacists.
6
Mueller Inquisition had run its futile course—like shooting into barrel of fish! It did nothing, but to enable anti-Trump liberal news media slander, vilify and smear the President Trump on a daily basis. This Republican Party’s bigotry, this new subject is plucked to smear the President. But the true irony is that since back in the days of slavery, every slave 3,999, 532 poor oppressed souls, according to 1860 US Census, were held and owned by the Democrats! It was Republican President Lincoln who set them free. Fredrick Douglass was Republican. Dr. Martin Luther King was a Republican. This moralizing pieces on bigotry so easily forget the modern founder of the Democratic Party, President Andrew Jackson exterminated the Native Americans! They were forcibly removed from their homelands and killing them in mass genocide─ known as the “Trail of Tears?” What about President Roosevelt’s internment of Japanese Americans? And in more recent years Democratic Party Presidential candidate George Wallace famously proclaiming, “Segregation today! Segregation tomorrow! Segregation forever! Mr. Obama and Mrs Clinton in attendance, President Bill Clinton who gave the eulogy at Sen. Byrd’s funeral said, “To be a Democrat those days you have to be a Klan member!" The dead man was a high ranking member in his days. It’s also good to remember the Civil Rights Act, Voting Rights Act and Affirmative Action were all Republican legislation. And almost all Democrats voted against them.
@ChandraPrince -- psst: 1965.
Apparently we've forgotten about Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith's enthusiastic comments about Public hangings...
5
Fire Trump for his racist speech and rants on- line. He embodies the worst of the moronic racists out there.
He certainly qualifies as one of the “bad” racists.
King should resign. It's not nearly enough, but it's a start.
The Race-baiter in Chief can resign from a jail cell.
2
My previous comment was not posted (yet?).
I will no longer be what the right continues to label as 'politically correct'.
King is a racist. He is also as dumb as a fence post. This applies not to King, but also to anyone who ever voted for him. That the GOP is throwing him under bus NOW after years of this blatantly obvious fact that is (or should have been) known to anyone and everyone including the village idiot, makes a joke out of the GOP's dog and pony show, and actually proves my point.
1
The party of Lincoln (what a joke) has been hooded since Lyndon Johnson got the Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts passed in 1965 and all those Southern racist Democrats and racists everywhere became Republicans.
3
Here's betting the Democrats never censure Keith Ellison or Rashida Tlaib for their gross racism and anti-Semitism. But, hey, they're Democrats, so anything goes.
The moment Trump said Mexicans are rapists coming here to rape our women - he should have been condemned and exiled to the corners of history. It is Trump that has fostered and emboldened the public sphere for racists like King to publicly laud racism and white supremacy as some ancient ideology. So as long as the GOP watches in silence as Trump runs amuck and destroys America, nothing they do can salvage their conscience or repair what their spineless abetting have done to this country.
The GOP must rationalize daily, hourly, amongst themselves to reconcile and justify the actions of a mad demented moron to what they thought they had represented and worked for all these years. Apparently it’s not enough to break party solidarity despite overwhelming evidence of Trumps profound stupidity and betrayal to his country, all for satiating his ego and his greed.
3
Republicans of Iowa, I cannot understand your thought processes, or lack thereof. Is it more of that better-Russian-than-Democrat mindset?
Also better racist/incompetent/fake-Christian/fascistic than Democrat?
2
This is all such a dog and bon show. All their pointing at Steve King is just the tip of the iceberg. t-Rump and many of the other repulsives are just as bad. Why single out one when the "winner" is sitting in the white house. Pitiful.
3
You don’t get it???
I’ll bet you didn’t get cronuts either, Frank...
“...Americans “can’t restore our civilization with somebody else’s babies”...
Nor with somebody else’s – or even our own – old people...
"Be glad for King's exile. But don't be impressed by the Republicans who are ordering."
Well gosh, Mr. Bruni. You are preaching to the choir. It would never--no, not in a thousand years!--cross my mind to be IMPRESSED by these--(bad language coming up here)--
--TOADIES AND TIME-SERVERS!
(There! That wasn't so bad, was it?)
But thanks for the reminder. It will not, I trust, be wasted.
My inner Latinist is screaming to be let out:
Dum iacet in ripa, calcemus Caesaris hostem.
"While his corpse lies prostrate, let's go stomp on Caesar's enemy."
Juvenal. "And be SEEN doing it," he adds.
Some guy fell from power. Suddenly. Dramatically. It was of paramount importance to be SEEN--
--"doing the right thing."
Just like Mr. King. The GOP, I gather, has suddenly realized, "Well, my gosh! These views of his--oh, how to say this?--
"--are unlikely to go down very well with the electorate."
What to do? Hey, I've got a suggestion!
Go stomping all over the bad guy! Show him no mercy! Raise holy hands of horror--"WHAT? WHAT did you say? Merciful heavens, I can scarcely believe my EARS!"
The bigger malefactor (as you rightly point out, Mr. Bruni) is waiting in the wings.
They ain't gonna go stomping on their own PRESIDENT, for cryin' out loud.
Not yet! Not yet!
Soon though.
Maybe.
We'll see.
Facing the very real prospect of extinction at the polls in another eighteen months the Party that falls in line, not love, did the very thing it does best: brazenly threw a member marching out of step overboard, if only to lighten the collective load. “Calves the size of cantaloupes” finally got its due.
Revenge is a dish best served cold.
1
Not all republicans are racists but if you are one you know which one is your party.
2
Baby steps for the Republicans. Let them pick off the low hanging racist fruit. That hopefully will serve as a shot across the bow of the other bigots and would-be bigots in the GOP.
1
Unfortunately even getting rid of their racist misogynist-in-chief will not change the Grand Oblivion Party. These traits are now in their DNA.
2
So why aren’t they condemning the Russian bigot clown in the whitehouse?
The funny thing is, that while the GOP is showing how they feel about white supremacy in their ranks they are exposing the bigot clown more than ever for what he has been his whole life.
Ask any New Yorker.
9
@Manderine
Why? Possible explanations:
1) The President has never embraced the term "white supremacy".
2) Principled opposition to lax immigration practices does not constitute racism in the real world, no matter the parallel universe inhabited by Democrats.
3) References to "____hole countries", while antagonistic in tone, is not racism, but an informal way of assessing certain countries' ability to govern themselves effectively and provide for their people.
4) Most importantly, because he's not even remotely a Russian bigot clown. And you people were offended at the insults thrown at Obama.
@Wine Country Dude -- gee dude, Birtherism?
David Leonhardt and Ian Prasad Philbrick of the NY Times make it really easy for me, read here:
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/01/15/opinion/leonhardt-trump-racist.html
And then as to your factual concern: he's a proven bigot. He's a proven bleep-clown. He is not a Russian by birth, the question of whether he has been a Russian agent or perhaps a "useful idiot" will wait for the publication of the Mueller report.
1
@Lee Harrison i, for one, am getting very tired of waiting for mueller's investigative report. what the heck are you waiting for, after 2 years?
It's the old gambit. Pick the rotten apple at the bottom of the barrel while ignoring those at the top. Since Richard Nixon, Republicans have been playing the "race card" moving from Reagan's "welfare queens" to George H.W. Bush and "Willie Horton" to Donald Trump castigating Hispanic immigrants as "rapists" and "criminals" and standing with white nationalist racists in Charlottesville after the murdered a young woman saying "they're good people" on that side. It's time at last to impeach Steve King and expel him from the "people's House" and to censure the racist in The White House. A slap on the wrist of a scapegoat allows the "bigotry" and "racism" that permeates the party from the head downward to go unpunished. House Democrats don't let the fake Republican crocodile tears fool you.
4
They flung the arrow hit one target but missed the larger lesson. The leader and King motivated by the same set of biases. There is the thickness of a single sheet of tissue difference between Trump and King.
3
Hypocrites! Where were Cruz, McConnell and the rest of the weasel Republicans when Charlottesville was invaded and attacked by Mr. King’s white supremacists? Where was their indignation? Where was their outrage? In 2017 these deceivers hid behind Trump’s racist comments. But now that Trump is going down the tubes they suddenly get upset and make headlines to show how indignant are.....about one of their own! The hypocrisy is nauseating. May the lot of them get voted out! Trump is a curse on this country but so are they, many times over.
6
Great Republicans can call out their own. I'm still waiting for anyone on the left to call out the anti-semitism of Louis Farrakhann.... I'll just wait here for that....
@Mystery Lits,
Why wait when a simple web search gives all...
https://www.politico.com/story/2018/03/08/louis-farrakhan-democrats-448241
3
Ok I repeat my claim that the current head of The Nation of Islam (“so-called Black Muslims” whose theology has little to do with al-Islam and more to do with flying saucers and the seeding of the earth with (I forget, the good guys with dark skin or the bad guys with white skin) is a bigot - agains a lot of folks including Jews.
Lefty credentials? See numerous other posts, though the Right’s moved the table so far that G H Bush looks like a “liberal”.
And a lot of others know this too,the reason he’s become virtually disowned by most of the blacks in the US, and the organization is a shadow of what it was under Malcom X and Elija Mohammed.
I haven’t even seen his name in print for years.
Again, impossible to check while doing this but I believe the Southern Poverty Law Center, considered a “left-wing conspiracy” because most of the hate groups it keeps track of are Nazi or Klan lists what’s left of the Nation of Islam a “hate group”
Why aren't we talking about the Iowans who elected this reprobate? Why is it that we are supposed to look through the soft-focus lens and see the bucolic landscape of corn and hard-working "heartland" people on their tractors, and not the sharp-focus lens and zero in on their heavy, right wing "conservative" penchant for electing someone who is essentially a Nazi? "Ich kein Nazi!", squawked every German downwind of every squalid concentration camp during the Allied occupation. I got it. They weren't Nazis. They were something worse. They let the Nazis happen.
3
@Fox -- in fairness to those people: King won by less than 51% in the 2018 election.
The "Party of Lincoln" today is to Lincoln as the Abercrombie & Fitch of today is to the Abercrombie & Fitch that outfitted Teddy Roosevelt. Cf. Gibbon, Decline and Fall…
It is especially rich for Romney to condemn King. Romney has long styled himself as a moral and behavioral cop. But he acts as though his own bullying behavior and intolerance of others has never been reported. But it has...
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/mitt-romneys-prep-school-classmates-recall-pranks-but-also-troubling-incidents/2012/05/10/gIQA3WOKFU_story.html?utm_term=.0d883372ed3b
2
Just check their repulsive, not such distant history to understand everything you need...
this party s/b gone from american mentality, unless we want to go back to feudal society, slavery, civil war, white supremacy, a.k.a. Steve King and being the country that has no place in 21st. century.
It's obvious they never evolved as human beings, and the fact that they are still there makes America a very dangerous, hostile and reprehensible country, the country that no normal person would ever like to live or visit.
We need to focus on getting them all out in 2020!
2
King outed Trump, and implied that he was the source of Trump's racist policies.
For every Republican finger pointing at King as a racist, there are four fingers pointing back at the truth. These Republicans have the chutzpah to sink King for his racist views when their actions to suppress the votes, gerrymander districts, actively disenfranchise minority voters, and employ dogwhistle words for minorities reveal their DNA. Nothing will change when they throw King out.
2
“Nationalist” and “White Nationalist” are two different things. Liberals lie through their teeth every time they conflate the two terms, but they don’t care. Lying is what liberals do best.
1
@Greg,
While I will admit that some Dems do lie...
You really can't be serious if you don't call out the leader of the Republican Party.
Compared to the grifter in thief, Dems are weak sauce. The man lied to service men, in a war zone to their face. Yet, nothing. Silence. Zilch. Nada.
The so called leader of the formerly free world is now a known serial liar. And republicans, conservatives and their sycophant followers point fingers elsewhere. Tell me again Greg who does what best?!
Have you no shame?!
2
@Greg
But his 1st remark was that he didn't understand what was so bad about white nationalists and white supremacists. And this was only the latest in his racist remarks.
He used the terms he is being criticized for. It is only after he was scorned for his remarks that he changed it to only nationalist.
1
All the Iowa elected officials were elected by Iowans. I never thought the average Iowan was a racist bigot. Now I know better.
So much for mid-west, down home image of the corn-dog loving Iowa farmer.
1
Ted Cruz is the biggest fawner west of the Mississippi; Devin Nunez is not far behind.
1
Well at least the Republicans are doing something about the bigot in the House. Unlike the Dems who have sat on their hands regarding the anti-semitism of a couple of their new members.
2
@JB
Calling out Israel over it's policies isn't anti-semitic.
The only people who are saying all jews are bad are the white nationalists and white supremacists.
There are many jews who also condemn Israel for it's policies. Are they anti-semitic also?
1
They are all horrible. And we all share in the disgrace. Every time a racist word is uttered, every time a racist notion is thought, every time a racist look is sneered we participate.
Their hypocrisy knows no bounds!
It's not just Republicans? Yes it is, there are no neo-Nazis that the Democratic Party has elected into office. This false equivalence renders the entire essay just as hypocritical as what it condemns.
2
Steve King is a fine example as to why the phrase "white supremacist" is an oxymoron.
3
Thank you for your clear-eyed look at a party in self-made ruins.
Republicans suddenly discover racism is bad! Hrm, wow.
Next up (well, maybe next year): Polar ice cap melting is not so great, either.
3
This country was invaded by racists. They slaughtered the natives who were already here and they brought slaves here from Africa. What makes you think anything has changed.
As a party, the GOP is filled with cowards and sycophants. They are a disgrace to the country. To all those so called Christians who insist on supporting Republicans still, I refer you to Galatians 5:13-23. That is as clear a rebuke to you as could be devised.
2
Don't worry, I'm definitely not impressed by this Republican Party. Such a bunch of cowards and hypocrites I have never seen. Don Trump tosses every modicum of decency and truthfulness under the bus every single day that he occupies the White House. Now we are to believe that Republicans in congress care about such things? What a sick joke...
2
Well, I disagree; it has everything to do with courage and little to do with convenience. (Of course “convenience”, at least in this context, is just another word for cowardice.)
At best the Republicans are lemmings following the moron in the White House off a national cliff. The only person who can stop this is McConnell, but hypocrites don’t tend toward honor.
If Donald Trump and Rush Limbaugh had a love child his name would be Steve King.
2
This whole Republican party as it now stands needs to go the way of the Whig's......forever gone and replaced by an actual conservative party with real idea's. Steve Schmidt suggested a party name......"The Coalition of the Decent" These people are beyond redemption. Simply being taken over by a con an should show us these weak feeble minds that follow blindly and only stand up when caught. Ick. I need a shower.
I live in the Midwest where German roots run deep. I hear these attitudes all the time that somehow German can do it better than everybody else. Having German ancestors myself I despise this attitude. It is extremely ignorant to think that somehow genes are to be credited for the advancement of society. It was a mere 78 years that Germany launched WW II and murdered millions of people to create space for their supposed super race. If Oppenheimer would have succeeded earlier Nazis would have wiped out entire continents. It is these same attitudes that now rule the white supremacist Republican party. Today they got a new cloak. The National Capatalist American Party. To those conservatives who oppose this movement I say it is far beyond time that you start your opposition. Democracy will die if we Don't fight this fascist terrorism.
4
When you see Republican legislators...think, Confederates and Russian Oligarchs. That's all you need to know.
4
No one is impress Mr. Bruni, considering their instant devotion to white supremacist in a White House.
Cowardness has no place in public office, alining with white supremacy has no place in America.
Once again this is throughout compromised Greedy Oligarchy Party that except for few members, should pack their offensive legacy and move to Russia in Putin's new building with 50 million dollars condos.
They can easily afford it, after fleecing our country for decades, and filling their pockets at the expense of american citizens.
BE GONE!
3
Bruni's eloquent sum up--- "the sacrifice of one wretched bigot to atone for the indulgence of another; an opportunity for moral preening after so much moral surrender. "
4
Does Trump believe in anything? Does he have any underlying belief in what is right and what is wrong? How can Trump warmly welcome King politically when this white supremist is anti-Semitic And is supportive of the vile chanters at Charlottesville. “Jews will not replace us”. Has Trump forgotten that his daughter,his son-in-law and his three grandchildren are Jewish?
@Milton Lewis
And he has aides like stephen miller who are jews.
Hypocrites all, but even worse, they are aiders and abettors of the most unintellectual, illinformed and repulsively vile individual ever to reach the heights of American leadership.
Trump lives for one thing, to be recognized as the best of everything. Knowing very well that he is a lesser human being. Lacking education and compassion his only reaction to criticism, contructive or otherwise, is to lash out against those critics. He is a pitiful lowlife who deserves no pity and removing him from office is not enough. The Trump name should forever be synonomous with trash.
3
Better late than never but why now??I find republicans suspect in everything they do.King should not be in congress..period.But what do you say to his constituents that just reelected this vile bigot?Takes one to know one.Nothing surprises me anymore about the GOP in fact,I expect the worst.If King can get a "slap on the wrist"what about the lowlife in the WH?
2
King is racist by Trump is not.
Are Republicans hypocrites or are Republican hypocrites?
—————
“But you also had people that are very fine people on both sides.”
—Donald J. Trump, Putin’s Whipping Boy, The 45th President of the United States
Thanks Frank but you don't need to tell me not to be impressed. There isn't a Republican in federal office right now who is anything more than a walking lie. They don't have a leg to stand on from a moral point of view. Everyone of them voted for that tax cut which is a direct hit to the middle class and the equivalent of handing our money directly to industrialists while sending the country deeply into debt. The vote for Kavanaugh after the testimony of Ford was also morally bankrupt.
Yet here in America we keep reporting on Republicans as if everything they say has real merit including rebuking King. This should have been reported in the news as specifically as Bruni has laid out. How about this:
"Republicans use latest racist comments by King to throw him under the bus in favor of a less notorious primary challenger." I think that conveys the reality a little clearer.
2
Could not agree more with the column. I would add the Republicans have been playing the supremacist card for some time and Trump’s low polling numbers and the Congressional elections of 2018 have forced the Republicans to realize the supremacist card is a losing card, a card which will become more toxic as demographics in this country change. The supremacist are actually terrified their birth rates won’t match the birth rate of fellow AMERICANS, who are of a darker hue.
3
Very simply put We have Trump, King and others like them because of Citizens United and Gerrymandereing.
Big money rules politics and its concentrated in a few pockets. Until Citizens United is overturned not much changes in D.C.. Maybe names, but that is about it.
4
With the new information dribbling out, and being withheld, I am terrified that the guy who put Trump in the Whitehouse is his Russian money man and employer, Vladimir Putin.
Trump even refuses to deny that’s the case, answering a straight-out question whether he worked for Russia with a tirade about being asked an insulting question.
We know: Trump is doing everything in his power to block release of any information about the growing list of meetings he had with the Russian dictator, from years before and after taking office.
We know Putin has control over banks that have shored up Trump’s house of cards businesses deals - which seem to have been based, before US banks declared him persona non grata, on leveraging loans for new business ventures with property already under mortgage.
And Trump’s a terrible businessman - building a casino which required at least $1 million a day from the gambling floors and hotel operations to pay for itself.
Even at its peak, such profits were impossible to realize, especially with a second Trump operation just a little way down The Boardwalk.
We know Putin was terrified of a Hillary Clinton Presidency after dealing with her as Secretary of State. Apparently, she was so good she was frightening.
We know about the effort Putin made to co-opt “social media”, and Trump’s parallel effort to denounce accurate news.
The rest is allegation - I really don’t care about the alleged Trump & prostitutes tape - though the Christian Right might.
1
This column is perfection. Bravo, Mr. Bruni!
12
Cruz, Cornyn, Ernst, Grassley, Reynolds. All have sidled up to King knowing exactly what he is, as he has shown them time and again. The faux outrage will pass soon enough with no further action. Voters should remember the hypocrisy. I am sick of it. Sick of Grassley (exhibit A for the case for term limits) and his eagerness to ignore his constituents (I grew up in Iowa), sick of Ernst and her castration rhetoric (uh, yeah, empty words) and the mealy mouthed senators representing Texas who fawn over Trump, refuse to do their jobs and evince no awareness of anything that isn't self-glorification.
3
Damage Control. 2020 around the corner politically and maybe the lip service will work. But how do you cover come all that negative history?!?!?!?
2
I have another theory. King, Trump (and others) are the betes noir of the GOP. To their Republican peers, they are the worst of the lot and no matter what the silent ones say or do, they look better, more competent, more tolerant, more sane. So the ones who might be considering challenging Trump can say to themselves, "At least I'm not as bad as (fill in the blank)." They do not see themselves also being thrown into the trash heap of history.
They can deny it all they want. Republican V2.0 is racist, misogynistic, lying, corrupt, greedy, hateful & not suited to run the country they claim to love. It's not just perception - it has become their trademark.
They use "progressive" as though evolving with the times is a bad thing. Will someone please take away their smart phones and replace them with party lines, purge their workstations and laptops and replace them with Underwoods, and, what the heck - give them a carton of Lucky Strikes? Yeah, those were the days!
The party of old white guys killed themselves by failing to evolve past 1955. Good riddance.
Now all we have to do is convince Harvard to do a better job of turning out decent leaders.
6
Sadly I find that people who speak loudly of their love of country, freedom and democracy do not. They claim to be Christian but are really not walking the talk. If the Republicans condemn Rep. King but not Trump they are only fooling themselves.
2
Of course, if the Republicans had not condemned King now, you would have written a column saying, “What are they waiting for??!”
@Richard
So? What's your point?
They still haven't denounced Trump for the same sins.
And frank has not let up on condemning them for it.
It's obvious that the GOP is happy to through someone who comes along, as it were, under the bus in order to pretend that they have clean hands.
1
Bravo, Frank. You nailed it.
4
It's always the bulldozer operators and the chicken farmers who are the most enthusiastic proponents of "Western Civilization", aren't they!
2
To a certain extent white voters enable the Steven Kings of American politics, be it the White House, congress, governorship, mayoralty or dog catcher, by deluding themselves into believing they can vote for the part of the candidate that is not racist white supremacist, the part of the guy who wants to de-regulate industry, or outlaw abortion, or make guns easier to obtain, or lower taxes (which never happens, by the way).
In the white compartments of their minds they think they can simultaneously vote for the racist and condemn racism. Simply put, standing up to bigotry and white supremacy is just a much lower priority to many white voters than that feeble tax cut they hope to get or whatever other campaign promise was made.
"Yes, I understand she/he is a vile racist, but he/she will protect my second amendment rights or the rights of the unborn."
Sorry folks, but this is not enlightened self-interest. It is the politics of fear.
4
Well said Frank!
1
Yes, on Fox Republicans can do no wrong. In the NYT and WaPo, and on CNN and MSNBC, Republicans can do no right.
1
Precisely Frank.
When you're enraged at the master, but won't say a darned thing, you kick the dog. Pathetic, but entirely expected.
2
Lest we forget, this article recalls some sordid facts.
Well, he finally went the provernial "...Bridge Too Far..." when he asked how "...white nationalism and white supremacy...." had become offensive terms.
The Rs had to whack him when he went there.
On another note, what is it with grown up Republican men with khakis and blazers? That aide to King's left just looks ridiculous. It's like they all want to be back at Prep School.
2
Well done!
1
This is why they're distancing themselves. King's error was being candid about what the GOP represents.
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2019/1/8/1824518/-Under-the-Overton-Window
2
While Republicans look the other way when Trump spews his racially insensitive remarks, they are all over King, at least they are this time, anyway. As far as optics, Republicans believe this makes up for giving Trump a pass -- but it doesn't. Trump remains a racist, and the Republicans continue to be his patsies!.
2
Trump is the elephant in the Republican room.
2
Cruz is keenly aware of the demographic shift in Texas.
He'd be a fool not to come out swinging against King.
1
Very insightful column!
What took them so long?
Mark my words, this is just a sneak preview of how the GOP (that of Lincoln) will react to finally seeing the light about their current 'Individual1.'
More's the pity.
Thanks in advance, Robert Mueller.
We didn’t get into this fix by accident and we won’t get out painlessly, if at all. King and Trump and their ilk are as much products of our country as Hitler and Mussolini were of theirs. The decline of Congress and the growth of an unchecked executive; the erosion of community and commonwealth and the entrenchment of unaccountable elites; a falling life expectancy and a rising suicide rate. These are both cause and consequence of a country that, for most of my adult lifetime, has been losing its way. If King and Trump et al were and are things unimaginable, we must also recognize today's degree to which they also were inevitable.
4
King needs to be called out but it remains weak when Republicans have not called out Trump for his white nationalist sentiments. No one wants to be bullied by Trump. No one wants to get a disparaging nickname. Spineless wimps. Shame. The world is watching the galling display of hypocracy.
1
This type of article should be delivered to each Republican Congress member every day to make them aware that the American people are on to them and their hidden fascist, pro corporate power (money)mentality.
With their tactics of creating fear, blatant racism, support of white supremacy and their out of control lies about democracy (tactics that still are the favorite tools of all dictator wannabes), these Republican politicians knew what they were doing. With their endless manipulation they knew they would be able to attract the less politically educated, the people who are living from paycheck to paycheck, the unemployed and poor and feel that nobody listens to them.
Yes the voters in Iowa should be blamed as well for supporting these false prophets, they should have been aware of all the lies hidden in the manipulators rhetoric.
But the real blame should rest on the Republican leaders who have embraced their policy of lying, deceiving, they knew that when they falsely tell their base that the democrats will take the few things away that controls their survival, of course they would vote for them.
Scaring people to death with fully made up stories has always been the favorite tool of the right, the extremists and fascist.
Their goal is and has never been to improve the life of 80 to 90% of the population.
They have one single goal only to surpress the majority to benefit the wealthy. That is why we HAVE to BLAME the MESSENGER.
2
Having read a few of the comments over at Breitbart about King's removal from all committees and the frothing racists that make up the GOP are all in agreement that any republican that agreed with this or helped to make it happen is now firmly a RINO to be voted out of office and if they could arrange it murdered in his or her beds.
When Hillary said these people were a 'basket of deplorables' she was being entirely too kind. These people don't deserve to be called human.
5
So many to choose. I'll pick this one"
...that “white people” had done more for civilization than “any other subgroup of people.” …
Consider the following few items from an extremely long list from non-white people (these few just off the top of my head):
Algebra, the number Zero and positional notation (imagine doing calculus with Roman numerals), power series (Kerala), paper, gun powder, trigonometry, quantum mechanics (Bosons are named after an Indian guy- Bose), Chinese remainder theorem (think encryption), …
King is not only a racist, he is blatantly stupid.
5
@oldBassGuy
Don't forget spaghetti.
So much love for this comment!
1
Republicans remain “the party of racists” despite this small complaint about King. One cannot undo decades of racist pandering.
2
Isn’t it ironic that these folks who claim supremacy of their own race are usually not what any other sensible person and member of that race would consider “supreme” in any way. Rather we’d call people like King “dimwits”.
3
Steve King should step down as he is now the story and will always be referred to as “White Nationalist Steve King”
2
Not exactly bravery on the part of the GOP, King represents one backwards district in Iowa and is so blatently racist it is really easy to condemn him, because they risk nothing in doing so. Meanwhile this is the same party that for decades has traded in on subtle race baiting, from the more overt Willie Horton image of the black man as criminal, to the underlying racism that they use to keep their base, in telling whites that their economic losses are because of all those brown people coming to the US, or framing ACA as giving gold plated free health care to 'those people' while telling their base "you have to pay for yours". They refused to condemn Trump for his overt racism and supporting white nationalists and neo nazis because quite frankly, their base loves that Trump is all those things.
5
Steve King I understand was taking pride in calling whites as a superior race.
What an idiotic statement yet the Republican Party did put up with him for decades.
This kind of attitude has no place in this Country or world.
Iowans need to vote out this unattractive offensive man.
Good riddance , but what does the silence from donald trump means ?
Now the Real American Women in 116th Congress, wish them all my best, may they are able to overpower lying trump and get him out of the White House.
Just as Steve King does not represent America. Neither does donald trump.
3
My question is: Why did the so-called good folks of Iowa elect this guy? Surely they knew of his ongoing racist comments, and they didn't care. Apparently, any politician with "R" after his or her name is better than someone with a "D", even if the Republican is a total creep and outright racist.
4
Yes, just look to the CA 50th district for further affirmation of this...
@Karen Craddock
Ever been to Iowa?
It's not the paradise of "Field of Dreams."
"Republicans, Racism and Steve King. So now the party abhors bigotry? How convenient."
Indeed, convenient and hypocritical beyond measure. Were it not for a constant spotlight on Trump's misdeeds, lying, hatred and bigotry—which of course spills out on all of the Republicans no matter how hard they try to scurry away—they would either keep their mouths shut, or even stand behind King, albeit from a distance.
These are HORRIBLE examples of representatives of WE THE PEOPLE. Mitch McConnell, Ted Cruz, John Cornyn, supreme Republican turncoat and snarling Trump junkyard dog Lindsay Graham, and all the rest should be ousted, stinking one and stinking all.
1
I can't say I have no respect for Cruz. but I can say I have negative respect. To go from the "sniveling coward" speech to a trump toady shows zero character or moral fiber.
I feel the same way about McConnell, Ryan, and others who enable & support trump while he tears down venerable American institutions like the FBI, our election system, and a free press. Their words on King are hollow & meaningless.
3
Republicans seem to have lost sight of the fact that Trump - a birther - has shut down the government because his filth-driven pretext for a wall.
Come on, GOP. He's worse than king, and you are not just endorsing Trump's shut-down, you're endorsing his racism by doing so.
3
Top drawer column, Frank, perfect. McConnell, McConnell, McConnell - to me, he's the villain in this sad opera, beyond the dummy in chief
2
I thought that the attacks and forced removal of Al Franken was completely unfair, unwarranted, and nothing more than grandstanding by Kirsten Gillibrand. However the Democratic party was at least being consistent with their stated morals. Republicans, however, are a horse of a different color, literally. Steve King is a proven racist and white supremacist, and at face value, they are right to condemn him. But so is Donald Trump, who not only says that Nazi's are fine people, refuses to disavow David Duke, and is running concentration camps for brown children at our border. Where is the Republican party's moral indignation with him?
King has to go. But so does Trump. This attack on King is nothing more than vultures feeding on the wounded, no matter how deserving it actually is.
3
If Donald Trump has done anything good as president, it is that he has laid bare, unequivocally, once and for all, the utter moral depravity, intellectual bankruptcy and shameless hypocrisy of the Republican party.
3
Mr. McConnell: "Mr. King! I'm shocked - shocked, to find that there is racism here in the GOP!"
Senate Whip: "Sir - your winnings from the last midterm election, due to voter suppression, racial gerrymandering and race-baiting."
Mr. McConnell: "Oh, why, thank you..."
1
Until Steve King is booted out of the House and Trump is rebuked for his anti-black (Obama birtherism and the Central Park 5, as examples) and his anti-non-Christian, non-White immigrations stances, then the following equation is true:
Trump + King + Republican Party = White Supremacy
Alarmed by their midterm meltdown, Republicans are now motivated to persuade Steve King that brown is just a darker shade of orange.
2
I love that picture of Trump's parents in their KKK outfits.
King's mistake was openly saying a plank of the Republican platform, it discourages any minorities who, experiencing Stockholm Syndrome, vote Republican by being explicit to the point where they can't pretend.
Spot on, Mr. Bruni.
"How convenient'! Shades of the Church Lady, minus the intentional humor. The Republican party is a cruel, ignorant joke.
Well said, Mr. Bruni ..... well said.
The Republicans would be hard pressed to win any election without the votes and financial support of racists, homophobes, and believers that the "end times" are near.
2
Mitt Romney commented that King’s behavior is impolite. Translation: it is acceptable to be a racist as long as you don’t speak about it.
1
Republicans can't win without racists, and they know it. They just get uncomfortable with everyone else knowing it. This has been true for the last 50 years.
2
The fact that you really nailed down the essence of this really should make all Republican voters shudder. It should be that the Republican "leaders" speak out against Trump. Loudly and in solidarity. They have lost the confidence of their party and should be ashamed of their behavior. They stand by and slaugher a sacraficial lamb and hope hope no one notices the idiot behind the curtain!
1
Cruz, King, Trump: three peas in a pod. Lets throw them all out.
1
The hypocrisy of the GOP is bottomless. Trump's history of racist comments could fill the NYT front page. Perhaps its a coincidence that exactly a year ago, Jan. 15, 1918, the Times published a "definitive list." Of course the list keeps growing.
The real problem isn't King or his fellow party members that turn a blind eye to his open racism. It's the voters that not only elect these men, but re-elect them over and over again. You know what these men are and you vote for them anyway. Which means all of the rest of America knows what you really are and what you really think. You wouldn't vote for it if you found it repugnant. Funny how many of them come from bible thumping states. Guess in their minds, "WWJD" falls under "whites only".
1
King and his "colleagues" are racists plain & simple. The people who elected them are racists too. Welcome to 21st Century America, where bigots proudly wave their banners of hate.
2
The "politics" of this is simple. The GOP couldn't afford to lose KIng's House seat in the 2018 midterms because they didn't know how bad the damage would be. Now that they've lost the House by a wide margin, King is no use to them anymore - especially with Joni Ernst's re-election coming up next year. Backlash against Republicans because of King's remarks could hurt her chances, too.
Three of the four House seats in Iowa are solidly blue now, and King's challenger in 2018 (Scholten) - who lost by just 10,430 votes, or 47% of votes cast - could decide to run for Ernst's Senate seat as a result. That's Mitch McConnell's real concern.
King was a useful idiot until the midterms. Now, he's excess baggage.
Thank you Mr. Bruni for not only mentioning the hypocritical behavior but also, in contrast to much of our public discourse, for "calling a thing what it is."
1
Why does it surprise you or anyone that convenience is almost always the driving force behind any GOP action; what they excoriated President Obama for now passes as normal under the Trump administration . . . there are countless examples. We all have it in us to be hypocritical, but the GOP have excelled . . .
4
I tend to believe that the GOP sheepishness is not due so much to Trump himself but more to a paralyzing fear of his base, and how they'll vote in 2020. Sure, they don't like to make Trump mad, but this is more about self-preservation than anything. And to a group of GOP congressman who would beat each other bloody to lick miscreant Trump's boot soles, they would much rather sell their mothers before they infuriated his base in any way.
1
I'm not sure why the Repubs even bothered. They have so much racism smeared all over them, like finger paint on kindergarteners. King happens to be a little more ...shall we say?... publically exuberant in his racism. Maybe they have some other reason for wanting to get King. Nothing rings as phony these days as such denunciations coming from Republicans.
5
My litmus test for the GOP, both its leaders and its voters, was the birther lie. That this wasn't enough to disqualify Trump as a candidate shocked me. That it apparently served as a calling card for Trump to the GOP is disgusting. Well after the election Republicans continue to embrace this essentially racist notion: https://www.newsweek.com/trump-birther-obama-poll-republicans-kenya-744195.
5
King is the lowest hanging GOP fruit. Still, Bush 2 campaigned for him.
1
We all know about Mitch McConnell’s “one term president” promise. And let’s never forget Judge Merrick Garland. No racism there.
Ted Cruz once brought a Confederate flag to join in solidarity with Tea Party protestors standing in Lafayette Square, across from the White House, to protest President Obama’s Affordable Care Act.
Richard Nixon was recorded as telling his advisors that his administration’s approach to black Americans would be “benign neglect.” He would later muse, to Donald Rumsfeld, that black people weren’t ready for civilization because they had only recently “come out of the trees.”
Ronald Reagan (1976) authored his timeless “welfare queens” quote while challenging Gerald Ford for the Republican nomination.
And in 1980, Reagan opened his presidential campaign in Neshoba County, Mississippi, hard by the graves of three voting rights workers who were murdered in 1964. Accident? Hardly. And Reagan, as president, would leaven his contempt for black people with “strapping young bucks eating porterhouse steaks.” Anything to gin up “the base” to keep the hate on a high boil.
Then there was H. W. Bush’s acquiescence to Lee Atwater to play the race card (Willie Horton television ad in 1988). And let’s not forget Jesse Helms in his race-centric re-election fight with Harvey Gantt.
So why are Republicans crucifying Steven King for toeing their party and ideological line for the past 50 years? They knew what they were doing.
It’s who they are. Why disown it now?
7
Seriously. This is entirely laughable. Where were these Republicans when Trump said he didn't know why "nationalist" is a dirty word. And then proclaimed that he was proud to call himself a nationalist.
Steve King FOR YEARS has been spouting xenophobic, racist and discriminatory language and NOW the Republicans are on their moral high horse, fanning themselves with disgust? Give me a break.
3
That it took so long for the House Republicans to act against King speaks volumes. And he still retains his seat. He has been a member of the House for decades, because he is a reflection of his voters -- ignorant, bigoted racists. And so he very much "represents them".
The bigger questions, though, are why it took the House Republicans so long to act against an avowed and proud white racist, and why are they still keeping him in the House?
I'm in my 60's, and in decades past, this would not have happened, even with Republicans. Such a disgusting man wouldn't have been permitted to run under the Republican "label". Oh, sure, the vast majority of the party was, and continues to be racist -- but they would have found a more "suitable", a more subtle face for their bigotry.
Fast forward to now. We're way beyond dog whistles. King has been an avowed racist for decades. And the only reason he's had such cover? Because of Trump's voters. Congressional Republicans know that they dare not act in any way that would enrage Trump's base. This way, House Republicans may say they acted on "principle" while keeping his vote and pacifying his voters.
But apparently, they are beginning to realize that at some point Trump will be gone. And we are now seeing their party for what it is - a party of hatred - of ethnic and religious minorities, women, anyone in the LGBTQ community, any brown-skinned immigrants. This latest action is nothing more than cover for their bigoted agenda.
3
They should have censured him after the calves the size of cantaloupe remark. They should have primaried him in 2018.
2
Are you seriously asking us to believe that Republicans are doing this for the sake of the country?
They're doing it to give themselves plausible deniability when suburban voters ask if they're racist. Suburban voters don't want to believe that they are racists and little spats like this give them a way to deny it.
1
maybe the Republicans are learning from the Democratic wave....women and minorities are our future.
2
In as much as Trump is now the head of the GOP--Trump among his many other hates is so clearly a racist--we can assume that the GOP is the party of racism. And misogyny. And homophobia. This King creature and that Cruz creature are just more vocal than others in the hate-filled party. And how many times has Trump uttered racist slurs? Far too many to count. How fast we have gone astray since the days of President Obama!
2
Forget about what this says about King, just like forget about what tRump's words and actions say about him. The thing about which we should worry are the millions of the willfully ignorant or the cognitively challenged that put them in office.
THAT is what is truly frightening about the time in which we currently live. You can't fix stupid, at least not quickly. So how does this ship of state get turned around?
1
The GOP made a deal with the devil years ago and it is about to come back and destroy them. Too late, can't wait for them to go down.
1
Thank you, Mr. Bruni, for this clear-eyed depiction of the rancid, vicious and infectious racism coursing through the Republican party and those who wallow with it. The hypocritical slap on King's wrist is one of the most revealing shows of what all those nasty thugs really mean by "Making America Great Again" [by the way, notice that all those silly hats now seem to come only in WHITE?]. Way to "double down," oh Saviors of our Land--make this disgusting period in our country's history even grimmer and more appalling. Such a perfect legacy for your children and grandchildren, huh?
1
The GOP has not called out racists in their party because, for years, they have courted "non-college educated white males" for votes. Sadly, this group also has the most racist ideology in the US. The obvious conclusion is many Republicans are racist, which explains their wins most red states. Just look at this year's Republican members' congressional photo, compared to that of the Democrats. The GOP certainly looks like the party of racists. What's the saying "when it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck, then it's likely is a duck". Enough said,
1
Well said, Frank Bruni, and all the commenters who call out the Republicans on their massive hypocrisy.
1
Will just leave this right here for you.
Mr. Bruni -
I’ve been activist progressive for over 50 years and have the documentation to prove it, and there is no acceptable apology that can come from Representative King’s ongoing bigotry. Will you please point me to an external source validating King’s asserting precisely, ‘... “white supremacist” and “white nationalist” are inoffensive if not honorable terms,...’? I’m not asking for heuristic or interpretation. Thanks.
Mr. Bruni -
The question will go unanswered because King never asserted the statement you attribute to him in your opinion piece today. Pray tell, what am I to make of that?
King is a well-known racist and has been for at least the past 20 years. While I'm glad republicans are finally throwing him under their white supremacy bus, the timing is certainly puzzling. Something else must be going on - let's find out what that might be!
1
I think that Republicans are cowards for not standing up to Trump’s racism and clear incompetence. That said, I am inclined to be slightly more charitable than Mr. Bruni this time. It is possible (though I admit unlikely) that Mr. King’s remarks create an “out” for those who have remained silent too long. Republican leaders could use this as a turning point to save face and finally begin pushing back on our repulsive, racist president.
Pollyanna, I know....
1
Identity politics is racist. The beloved demographic shift is equivalent to the southern strategy. Mixing politics and race/identity always leads to violence. We (US citizens) are being divide using these issues.
Try to image a signal political party defending open borders, offshoring manufacturing, and forever wars. None of those things is in our intrests all of them exist. At this point I'd love to see the Republican party dissolve and the Democrats defend these positions or the reverse.
Anyhow that dudes a racist but so are you.
@Brian
No one is supporting open borders, it's a lie the republicans say, but it isn't true. The democrats have offered money for border security, but not for a useless, wasteful wall.
While it was the republicans who started the process, both parties have supported offshore manufacturing. This was done at the behest of the rich for greater profits by using nearly slave labor with no protections. This has been the policy of this country since the beginning, the cheapest labor and lowest production costs. It's why we created an empire to control many countries. It's why we installed many dictators so that they could get rich by enslaving their people.
The US has always loved war, it's how we built our empire, how we committed genocide on the natives, had slaves, made slaves in other countries, and made many enemies along the way.
People may say they don'y like war, but lose all those cheap goods and they will howl.We didn't become the richest country by being peaceful.
After losing the US House by a record 40 votes, even the most calcified troglodyte GOP Senators can read the handwriting on Trump's toxicity.
So any port in a storm, and Steve King happened along as scapegoat flavor of the month.
1
Embracing the theory that President Obama was not a native-born American was misguided, but not racist. Opponents also claimed Chester A. Arthur was not eligible for the presidency asserted he was born in Canada. Arthur was white.
Saying that immigrants who carry bundles of marijuana on their backs have “thighs the size of cantaloupes” is not racist. King didn’t say Hispanics have muscular thighs; he said drug smilers who carry contraband on their backs across deserts and mountains develop muscles.
Many Americans feel immigration levels are too high, especially when illegal immigrants well as immigrants are counted. Some environmentalists think any population growth is bad. Adding newly two million immigrants per year to the U.S.population doesn’t reduce the nation’s carbon emission.
2
@William Case. Has this commentator not heard of the expression “dog whistle”?
1
Oh, we didn't buy this situation as a display of moral courage. Republicans are the party that makes excuses for racists and traitors. We understand thoroughly, and we are not distracted.
Yes this.
Now the GOP can claim in 2020 - "see we stood up to racism" and they'll hold King up as evidence.
Political cowards and hypocrites.
Well said, thank you.
This is so the racists can tell themselves they're not such bad people.
Or, perhaps that's too generous. It might simply be totally amoral political strategy.
1
What a disappointing column. The whole thesis here is that Trump is a bigger racist than King. So I was waiting for the stinging evidence, and all I got was this: "Trump’s own racist behavior and remarks — including, in the run-up to the midterm elections, his proud embrace of the term “nationalist”..."
What? Sorry Frank, but nationalism is not racism. Is that really all you got? Call me old fashioned, but I believe you need solid proof before labelling someone a racist.
How about an article with the headline: "Democrats, Racism and Louis Farrakhan" or perhaps "Democrats, Racism, and Chinese Applicants at Harvard"
A pox on both the left and right. Each is racist when it seems to be to their advantage.
A disheartening but accurate analysis of Republican righteousness. 1,000,00,000x yes it is past time to rebuke King and this is thin gruel to feed the narrative that Republicans are not more than bigots.
You did it again, Frank Bruni. Well done and so true!!!
Great, they've put this wounded creature in a corner. They've put this megaphone in a no lose situation. They're going to primary him. He'll give them a primary they'll never forget. Hitting every White High Note that will split the party in two. Forcing every Republican to have to say out loud things they don't want to say, and Republicans don't want to hear. But when you coddle a viper to your bosom, you get bit.
Well you gotta give it to King that doesn't hide his true colors, unlike his fair weather GOP co-conspirators.
It would be great if the Republicans really cared about racism, but we all know that isn't true. The President has led the way with racist innuendos and ignorant remarks since he was campaigning. Where is the Republicans moral courage to stand up to a man who doesn't like or respect Black and Brown people in his own country? Steve King is just another version of Trump. No brains, foot in mouth disease and complete ignorance that his job is to represent his constituents. Instead he just coasts along , making big bucks, barely doing his job and a shameful disgrace to our country. Throw King and Trump out with the garbage they spew.
1
This is only an opportunistic show of decency* to convince the world that Republican* leaders* aren’t the spineless cowards we think they are. Instead of the desired “aw shucks, they really ARE good people” effect, the Rep. King-as-sacrificial-lamb PR pageantry backfires - loudly broadcasting that not only are today’s GOP Congress members cowards, but colossal hypocrites to boot!
*Term misrepresentative of truth
This completely immoral Trump Republican Party richly deserves to die. If it doesn’t, then this country is entirely bankrupt of any lasting values and core principles. America? What is that?
Pundits are asking why this took so long... Perhaps:
1. This is a diversion from "the wall" and from another possible Kavanaugh-style hearing on Barr. Given this guy's record, we don't need another Trump sycophant AG obstructing justice
2. Maybe the gop is worried about 2020...?
3. As our petulant President's and the gop's current base dies off or wises up, they're going to need a new bunch of suckers.
The voters in Iowa also need to take responsibility....Steve King has been in Congress for 16 years! The white supremacy overtones and commentaries by King just didn't start yesterday.
2
Repubs are only doing this to avoid censure on the floor now that Dem control the House. This was a self-serving move at best. A day late and a dollar short.
6
Are you sure that McConnell's and the GOP's newly-minted righteous indignation against Steve King's latest barrage of bigotry is really their attempt to "atone" for their endless indulgence of Donald Trump's? Looks to me like they've gone straight to their master's playbook: instead of working to end the Trump-tantrum government shutdown -- the longest in history and no end in sight -- they've concocted yet another distraction from their pathetic failure, yet again, to do the right thing: stand up to the Executive, and do the job they were elected to do.
3
It's not racist to use the term "nationalist"
Yes, we have ideals, values and a way of life in this country that need to be protected.
@James
He used the terms white nationalist and white supremacist asking why it is bad to be either. It was only after the heat hit him did he just say nationalist.
"Impressed by the Republicans doing it?" I've never been impressed the GOP and I've been voting since 1984. I've lived through the Reagan debacles of lowered taxes, the Crash of 1987, and Iran Contra, Bush I and his recession inducing policies, Bush Jr - what's more to be said about his debacle of a presidency? Now we get this bottom of the barrel, treacherous, complicit, supine GOP Congress who refused to hold the current convenient-for-me GOP IMPOTUS who is clearly and actively destroying our democracy right in front of the whole world and you expect them to go after Trump, Putin's puppet (you were SO right, Hillary, too bad no one listened)? To me, it's clear as day that the top GOP lawmakers, and some former ones as well, are just as complicit with Trump, otherwise, why wouldn't they be upholding their Constitutional duty to protect us from ALL enemies, both foreign AND domestic? Their silence speaks VOLUMES. #Hillarywasrobbed #2020Bluewave #RESIST
2
Too little, too late. The Republican Party needs to be swept into the dustbin of history ASAP. Enough.
1
It does seem rather scapegoaty to focus on this guy now. I mean it also works, it's just that, misdirection is a strategy of the GOP. So let's reject this man's beliefs, have clear boundaries that prevent him from smearing his lower nature to influence others and let's keep going instead of feeling complete, let's just get empowered and keep it up.
1
Yes, Frank, I am sure you have all the facts down correctly. king, like Trump are racists, it's clear as can be. How about a column on the most important fact, which is why millions of Americans vote for and elect such people to Washington? There is a reason that these men appeal to the electorate. Uncover that for us, Frank and when you have found the answer, you may also discover that America is indeed and sadly, a racist society.
5
Therre is no reason to believe what has been published by the New York Times on this topic.
The Times has scrupulously avoided publication of a full and unedited transcript of the interview and instead refer to comments taken out of context.
Given their illustrious record when dealing with anyone opposed to their left wing stance, I doubt their complaints will stand up under close scrutiny of the entire conversation.
Keeping a catalog of hypocrisy is a pointless exercise in the political zoo that is Washington. Expulsions and lamentations are all so Kafkaesque in the shadow of the Tartuffe in charge. The only remedy is to gather forces and vote out the worst of them, beginning with Ted Cruz and ending with the head liar.
1
In addition to Trump’s embrace of Nationalism and White Supremacy, the very idea of a wall on the southern border is racist. So McConnell et al can save their breath about Steve King’s racism. They have shut down the American government because of Trump’s racist propaganda.
1
The Scripps National Spelling Bee is a good example of non-white intellectual supremacy. Karthik Nemmani, Ananya Vinay, Nihar Saireddy Janga, Jairam Hathwar, Gokul Venkattachalam, Vanya Shivashankar, Ansun Suhoe, to mention only the last winners.
Or, Algebra 1 - Eastside Invitational January 2019: James Zhang, Arib Syed, Keving Wang, Aaron Hu, Nelson Zhao, to mention only the five with best T-Scores.
Or, 2018 Florida MTNA piano competition winner: Madison Yan, She alson won the Chopin prize.
Ah, and we also are proud of Van Cliburn an American who won in 1958 the International Piano Competition in Moscow. No, he was not a friend of Nikita Khrushchev at that time. His last name, according to the experts, comes from a town in England. Another successful immigrant story. We are not racists so we can honor him and love his piano.
Picking on Cruz, Frank? Prepare to be endorsed, praised and exalted!
1
Because he represents a meaningful majority of white American voters Steve King should run for President of the United States. King deserves credit and respect for being open and honest about his bias.
The Democrats have not won a majority of white voters since 1964. From 2008-2016 57%, 59% and 58% of white voters went white Republican McCain/Palin, Romney/Ryan and Trump/Pence.
And the Dixiecrat South became Republican in the wake of Barry Goldwater's antipathy towards any civil rights legislation. Followed by Richard Nixon's Southern Strategy appeal to state's rights Confederate Lost Cause mythology and nostalgia and bigotry and Northern Strategy aka crime in the streets. Ronald Reagan ran on states rights and against Cadillac driving welfare queens and strapping bucks with food stamps. George H.W. Bush had Lee Atwater trolling the same bigotry. And his son had Karl Rove.
Donald Trump became President of the United States by appealing to the worst demons of America's white supremacist nationalist nature and nurture. Mitch McConnell spent 8 years trying to make Barack Obama a one-term President.
3
@Blackmamba -- you are correct, and on one level I am sorry about it, but on another level if I say that "I am apologizing for my race" then I am buying into exactly the same racism. I'm me. You are you. I have no idea where you live or what you do ... but hey, if we crossed paths I'd buy you a beer and we could talk about it.
Trump's racism was on full display yesterday in his "joke" about the massacre at Wounded Knee."
2
Face it, the real sin of Rep. King is that his racism is naked and overt. The Republican Party since the days of Nixon has played to the racists of the country but maintained plausible deniability in their covert appeals. Now that King and Trump are openly flaunting their racism, they are shocked -- shocked! -- to find racists amongst their ranks.
1
Eugenics was once popularly embraced. Times change some attitudes do not.
Why didn't the GOP jump down Trump's throat when he defended the white nationalist in Charlottesville 2 years ago by saying that both sides were at fault.
Only one side drove a car into a crowd killing one.
This is probably why Trump has been quite about King, they think alike.
1
At this point I hope that many others would end in the same way, Trump included.
The GOP can make these token sacrifices all they want. Unless and until they take on trump, their prospects in next year’s elections are bleak. If the elections were held today, some of them would be sent packing, and they know it.
They need to somehow distance themselves from, and neutralize trump, while maintaining the support of his diehard base.
trump is pure election poison. The GOP seems to recognize this. It appears as if they’re hoping something or someone will deal with trump. (Read: Mueller, maybe Barr, possibly some health issues). Clearly, most of the GOP members of Congress are frightened of trump.
With the inevitable departure of each cabinet member who did their best to rein trump in, their options are shrinking. Someone has to grab a stone, and go deal with Goliath.
Mr. Bruni has brilliantly and eloquently described the foul and abhorrent state that has been simmering and blossoming in the dark underbelly of a portion of our politics . How long can the current shame continue to thrive and be protected in our government ??...Bravo, Mr. Bruni, for a stark and frightening exposure of the truth.
2
Thank you. It is about time someone in the Press spoke up about this.
3
Steve King entered the hallowed halls of Congress with the same ideas that he is being punished for today. He has only grown more vocal over the years. The statements that supposedly broke the back of the republican camel are almost innocuous compared to some of his very public previous remarks. So why now?
Will he suddenly find a soul and recant? Will his removal from committees reopen the government?
No and no. While this action may have been the “right” thing to do, the disingenuousness of it renders it useless.
2
When Rep. King (R. Iowa) looks into a mirror, he see all of the white Americans who are fearful of loosing their majority to a non-white majority. These white Americans fear they will be treated as they have treated their fellow non-white Americans: discrimination against them just because they are white Americans. Their fear of being unable to control their destiny as they have kept non-whites from controlling theirs through social, political, and legal exclusions dogs them.
Many Americans declare their abhorrence of xenophobia but manage to accept the fruits of their acquiescence to the subjugation of non-white Americans. This unwitting acceptance is reflected in them thinking of themselves as being without color, thus the phrases "colored people" or "people of color" as a means of identifying who are not white. Again, neither of these phrases includes people with white skin. Their colorlessness is evidence of their exclusiveness. Until white Americans began to include themselves among the "colored people" or "people of color," they will be accomplishes of those who spout xenophobic ideas and white superiority.
Verbal denials of xenophobia are not enough, one must actively, i.e., physically oppose it by not accepting the fruits of the subjugation of others.
2
The GOP has been fanning racism since the days of Nixon and G.H.W. Bush (e.g. the "Willie Horton" ad). The leopard cannot change his spots. Bruni has hit the nail on the head.
1
An excellent piece, except for the part about the GOP being concerned for their country. The GOP admonished King -unlike Franken he wasn’t forced to resign- because every group outside of angry white men is rejecting them and they need to do something to give plausible deniability to their racism.
It’s never about country with the GOP. It’s always about winning.
2
When leader Kevin McCarthy was asked why the GOP is now condemning Kiung's remarks, McCarthy gave the Trumpian answer that he is only now becoming familiar with what King has said in the past.
Trump has said more about the divorce of Jeff Bezos than Steve King's current remarks.
And right up until election day 2018 the entire GOP was repeating lockstep Trump's race baiting about mobs, beheadings, cop killers, walls, MS13, smallpox and leprosy coming over the border.
The GOP is speaking up about King now because the Democrats were going to censure him.
Democrats need to demand to know from the GOP why they condemn King's remarks but not the same remarks from Trump.
1
King's views are not new. Yet, the voters in his district repeatedly reelected him as their representative in Congress. Apparently they weren't bothered by his blatant bigotry. So, what does that make the majority of voters in his district?
Don't be surprised if he is victorious (again) in two years.... if he hasn't been hired for a position in the White House before then. As they say; "Birds of a feather...."
Well said Mr. Bruni, it is hard to watch the utter hypocrisy of the Republican leadership that is without any modicum of moral courage.
1
I agree with you. I commented yesterday stating that King is expendable. The Republican hierarchy is worried about 2020 and losing not only the Presidential election, also the majority in the Senate and losing more seats in the House. This is the beginning of damage control. Wait and see , more meaningless, trivial mea culpas will happen these next 18 months. Now if only McConnel would censure Sen. Grassey for his endorsement and prasie of King last year, perhaps take away his chairmanship of the Finance committee. Pigs will fly first before that happens.
Since at least Nixon’s southern strategy, the Republican including all President and candidates have embraced racism, have used the states rights canard argument as dog whistle. This includes Reagan both Bushes all of them. So stop it.
1
Steve King is like a hapless party-goer in a packed room who's been randomly struck by a stray bullet fired by a blind man standing in the doorway. He was not struck because of who he is, or because of what he's said or done. He was struck because he was in the way of the bullet. In this case, the bullet is the GOP's need or desire to appear that it has a conscience about racial bigotry.
It has no such conscience. But it wants to appear that it does. So, ZAP! ... Steve King takes one for the team. Down he goes. It could have been somebody else. Tomorrow, it will be somebody else... maybe one of Trump's Cabinet members, or his Press Secretary, or his Chief of Staff, or ... well, you get it. Whoever is convenient and disposable at the time.
3
So well stated, Mr. Bruni! It all boils down not to convictions, not to principles, but to a power calculus. If you want a good example of how one can successfully navigate with principles intact in what is essentially a hostile political environment, check out our terrific local interviewer, Don Marsh’s discussion on KWMU this morning with newly-elected Prosecutor Wesley Bell. I know this is a stretch for New Yorkers, but I’m becoming increasingly hopeful that Bell May be the real deal.
http://www.tinyurl.com/yafxtz2n
1
They were all for King until finally, they weren’t. Let’s hope that they will only all be for Trump until, finally....finally, they aren’t. And then let them pile on.
Republicans in power. King can say whatever he wants. Democrats in power. King has to go. That's it.
1
"Pragmatism, expedience and the maintenance of power are the real monarchs of politics — and not just among Republicans." Amen Frank Bruni. Howevwer, that's about all of the truth contained within this "hyper-PC" article.
It is very easy to pile on someone for making the sorts of statements that Rep. King has made, especially in the times we now live in. However, has anyone asked themselves, are any of his statements true? Let's take this one:
"(F)or every child of an undocumented immigrant who goes on to academic glory, 'there’s another 100 out there who weigh 130 pounds and they’ve got calves the size of cantaloupes because they’re hauling 75 pounds of marijuana across the desert.' "
What exactly is racist about that statement? Racism is defined as the belief that one is inferior to another simply because of the color of their skin. Can that be said about King's statement above? I don't think so. In fact, I would dare venture to say that none of King's public remarks are racist under the classic definition of racism. Yet in the PC culture that we're in now, EVERYTHING that one says that is mildly offensive to another group is deemed racist, and one is labeled as a racist, ostracized from society, and one's life is invariably ruined. People run scared from speaking their minds, and I would say from often times speaking the truth.
A most curious thing for Republicans now to throw King under the bus for racism when the party has played the race card with some success since Reagen and his Southern Strategy.
Did the mid term elections put some fear into their black hearts when Trump's message of racism and xenophobia failed?
Do not cease to be wary for the leopard has not changed its spots.
"It all depends on whose ox is being gored."
The Dems should vote to expel him. It just takes a simple majority.
Is there any doubt at all that, were the republicans so inclined, they would do the same to a Democrat for far lesser reasons?
1
This is a "ton" of styrofoam movie set "bricks."
So too a good distraction away from Mitch McConnell, whose twisted logic has been on full display recently when he justified Senate inaction on the government shutdown by blithely saying that he was not going to put anything to a vote that President Trump would not sign - as if that was any legitimate reason to NOT bring a bill to the Senate floor for ending the trouble of the nation as it goes on in this longest of shutdowns.
1
I very much doubt that this reaction to Rep. King would have happened before the midterms. It may have also been unlikely without a big loss in the midterm and/or a slip in Trump's popularity.
On the plus side, willingness to call out bad behavior by anyone is implicitly a threat to Trump and a clear signal that his support is either slipping or was being "faked" by some until after the midterms.
3
I am glad for King’s exile. And I cannot and will not be impressed with the Republican response - and certainly lack there of- to this or any other degradation to this country and our constitution.
5
When can we stop looking to Iowa, an isolated; low-population; non-representative of US demographics, politics, voting processes, or economy; as a bellwether of the future of American politics? It's an historical artifact, kept on life-support by a starving media, and rarely prescient.
Let's give it the heave-ho along with its pride and joy, steve king.
11
Growing up in the thirties and forties with the two monumental events that occurred, one strangely recognized what the Declaration of Independence said about being created equal.
It really dawned on us as kids and teenagers that we all were in the same boat and trying hard to get through those two events without going off the rails or even taking time out to think about not being equal. I sometimes wonder if that WWII generation will have been the last great generation.
I believe in the millennial generation and the one following them because the chance is they have not become wedded to all the garbage that is being thrown around out there.
It is hard to imagine anybody, much less large groups of people who have experienced turmoil like wars, recessions, disasters like floods and hurricanes and fires, discrimination or disdain for being different, feeling that way. And it is equally and incredibly surprising any member elected to the House or Senate in our Congress or the president himself feeling that way. And yet here we are!
What will our country become if people throughout the entire country suddenly begin feeling that way. There is something to be said about the thinking that this is the only planet we're on and we really are all in it together. Hate itself may be a powerful motivator but it is still the lousiest quality among us humans.
6
I didn't look up the details but I seem to remember the Republicans once kind of disowned Senator Trent Lott for one comment, much less than Rep. King's consistently offensive utterances. But the GOP didn't change its spots then and it won't this time either.
7
@Mancurac you are correct. Trent Lott praised Strom Thurmond's racist Dixiecrat party and lamented what could have been had Thurmond won the Presidency. Of corse by then, Thurmond had long been a Republican.
Yes, it is now convenient to scold and discipline King now that there is a potential Republican who can replace him. But, no matter the reason, at last the Republicans have taken a small stand against hate and discrimination. That is better than no stand at all and a down payment on all the work they have to do to undo years and years of dog whistles and worse (for example the birther campaign against President Obama) to show they are anti black so that the Southern states and many prejudiced people in other parts of the country will continue to vote for them in national elections. In my more hopeful moments I think the Republicans might really become again the conservative party without its current encouragement of anti black sentiment, anti immigrant sentiment, anti woman sentiment, and a more sensible economic policy than a savage free market capitalism, as well as a progressive taxation policy at least as progressive as that under Ike Eisenhower.
1
Too many republicans are still behind trump mad man idiot. King's exit is welcome, but i seriously doubt if i will ever again vote republican. I once prided myself on being an Independent, but no more. Am a Dem all the way.
22
Looks like the devil has blue eyes, white skin, and a blood red tie.
14
Anyone seen this photo of McConnell and King? https://twitter.com/NathanHRubin/status/1084990273623609345
3
King was the Iowa governor's campaign chair----talk about embracing the devil.
4
Before everyone goes off half-cocked and starts demeaning Iowans, I remind you King is NOT elected by "the state of Iowa." He belongs to the 4th District, a large swath of sparsely populated territory in the northwest. The other 3 Iowa representatives are Democrats, and as much as the rest of the state loathes Steve King, there's no explaining why a bare majority of the 4th is pleased with him. We all hope that changes no later than 2020.
24
So the GOP is condemning one racist. Fine. But they are still standing behind the President who defended white nationalists in Charlottesville as good people, even after one such person plowed a car through a crowd of counter-protesters, mudering one. They are still defending Trump, a blatant misogynist, who boasted of sexually assaulting women and installed another likely sexual predator on the Supreme Court. They continue to stand behind a man who appears to have sold out our nation’s best interest in order to line his own pockets. The GOP claims that they are the party of virtue and religious values; what a bunch of hypocrites.
590
He even has proclaimed himself as a nationalist (and in the US they come in only one colour) and says he’s proud of it. So king has friends in very high places.
30
@Kristi
Oh, they're way beyond "hypocrites." I think they've even surpassed "moral relativists." "Cult" accurately covers their willingness to accept anything that advances their distorted view of the world, their sense of superiority over others, their adherence to overt illogic and their perversion of religion and truth.
50
@Stevenz
It's funny, New Democrats are pulling down Old Democrat's monuments, calling them "symbols of oppression!" And they are right...
Two faced American hating hypocrites.
5
Whether it is allowing racism (or misogyny, or homophobia, or xenophobia, or..well, you get the picture) to flourish or expressing newfound disgust with it, there is nothing in the behavior of the Republican party that leads me to believe they give a damn about it one way or the other. They appear to be interested in all of these issues only to the extent that it is useful to maintain and gain their own power. They have not taken a page from Machiavelli, they have written a dark sequel to "The Prince".
12
Anyone with half a brain can readily see through the GOP’s handling of Steve King. What’s more, they could care less if your intelligence is insulted. Why risk the wrath of the 500 lb. gorilla in the room when there’s a little chimp to dispatch like road-kill? Why bother when there’s littler fish to fry?
In W.B. Yeats’ famous phrase, the GOP would, instead, allow Trump to turn the country into “this blind, bitter land “ so long as they got theirs.
I’m hopeful, though, that the tide is turning against those who would corrupt our democracy and that we may yet experience our finest hour.
307
@Dave Foster - Is it odd coincidence that commenters on the state of American politics keep quoting Yeats?
8
Like us, Yeats lived through turbulent times in his native Ireland and was unafraid to call a spade a spade, e.g. The Second Coming.
12
For all of its faults, there is no analogous strain of racism in the Democratic party. Trump must be condemned as well as all the other unAmerican members of the Senate who play footsie with King and his ilk (hello, McConnell!). The Republicans are no longer the party of Lincoln.
19
@Sonja Brisson
The Republicans have not been the "Party of Lincoln" since the end of the Grant Administration. To pretend a more recent transformation is to be in desperation for a legitimate opposition. The Dems do not have an analogous strain of racism in their party, it is true. The Democrats are much more clinical in their institutional racism.
Recall that President Obama is known as the "Deporter in Chief" in the Hispanic Community. It was Acorn, the organization that played hardball like the machine Dems used to, that was summarily executed by the Clintonites.
I am not sure which party is really worse. The Republican Party makes no bones that they are out for you. The Dems are into massage.
The fact remains, he was elected by the fine people of IOWA.
What does that say about that state and why in the world do we allow it to have such an outsize role in selecting presidential candidates.
18
@davey385 Agreed. That there is one man with these beliefs and the unfettered freedom to make them publicly clear is to be expected, if abhorred. That there is a state who will return him to office each election cycle is desperately sad and a pathetic stain on Iowa and our nation
The republicans who express disapproval at Rep. King are too slow by half, or if you prefer, half-fast (say it quickly).
"Character is not only doing the right thing when no one is looking, it's doing the right thing when everyone is looking. It's being willing to do the right thing even when it costs more than you want to pay." - Michael Josephson
Senator McConnell, I will pay to engrave that quote for you so you might see it every day in your deference to a Republican president and denial of a Democratic one previously.
We are in deepening winter and, as in every year, spring thaw will bring floods as ice jams persist too long. Your Senate, sir, has done the same thing, denying votes to legislation you fear might embarrass the president. He can veto any bill he wishes--that's his job. Do yours.
You can begin by unblocking bills to address the pointless shutdown.
32
@Douglas McNeill
McConnel HAD to reject King's latest comment, or face a bigger problem at home. His wife is Chinese (Elaine Chao). So don't give him too much credit for suddenly, after 16 years of Steve King, he now sees the light...he is more likely just avoiding feeling the heat.
1
@Douglas McNeill...the Good Ol' Boy Club treasurer has NEVER capitulated to do what's right. Ever. I've had to learn it the hard way more than once, but know this: nothing will make me crazier today than expecting something from someone who doesn't have it to give.
Don't ever expect conviction from a chameleon...or, the Repugnantcan't Party.
Bigotry is to be ahorred of course. But we ought not be surprised of the 'sudden' awakening of outrage for Steve King's discriminatory practice...if hypocrisy is allowed to persist. Trump (and his ilk), has been a 'racist' all his life, and it shows. But if you want to read Ta-Nehisi Coates' "We were 8 years in power", 'white supremacy' is a foundational problem that seems firmly impressed in our psyche and institutions, however distant slavery may be, given that we are still living in a segregated world (look at housing, health, education, jobs, for evidence). This, not to exculpate this vicious bully, our discriminator in-chief, but to show that steve King's problem is more widespread however 'smart' we may be in ignoring it. My question is, why now King, while giving Trump a free pass?
7
Deflect, distract.
King is the face of the Republican Party, but Trump is Putin's chaos agent and the Republican Party is their enabler.
23
I read Frank Bruni's columns all the time and thanks to him and other well written and researched articles, I am well versed on the racism and bigotry within the Republican Party and the Trump Administration. But it has amazed me that it is taken so long to seriously punish this bigot for his racist speech and actions. He should have been removed from Congress long ago, as should many of his ilk. Our system has failed us.
16
@A Longo "Our system has failed us."
Hence, Trump.
1
Rather than focusing on the bigotry of white supremacist Steve King, perhaps Republicans should look for inspiration to a different, dark-skinned man also named King: Martin Luther King.
"We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the hateful words and actions of the bad people but for the appalling silence of the good people. Human progress never rolls in on wheels of inevitability; it comes through the tireless efforts of men willing to be co-workers with God." [Letter from a Birmingham Jail]
Republican politicians, as well as their so-called Christian supporters, should indeed repent for their appalling silence thus far. Justice isn't driven by the winds of political polls.
17
A particularly moral, patriotic American heartland in flyover country is a myth. Iowans signed off on Mr. King and his white supremacist beliefs for years. We'll know who they are by what they will do. Iowa gave us King and they (most of the heartland, not necessarily all of Iowa) gave us Mr. Trump. The American flyover heartland is remarkably susceptible to lies and fear mongering. They do not mind a little racism or xenophobia. They are not independent thinkers. They are not informed thinkers. They are not able to put actions and consequences together. They worship the flag but couldn't care less about what the flag signifies. All of that is who they are, until their actions demonstrate otherwise.
17
@Robert
A particularly moral, genuinely patriotic American heartland in flyover country is a myth. Enough Iowans signed off on Mr. King and his white supremacist beliefs for years. We know who they are by what they did. Iowa gave us King and the heartland (most of it, anyway, not necessarily all of Iowa) gave us Mr. Trump. And they will remain who they told us they were, until their actions demonstrate otherwise.
"With his ignorance and arrogance, he seems to be hauling the country to the brink of a disastrous international crisis. He degrades his office daily. And most of them mutely watch."
That's the left as well. Witnesses to the destruction. We need to get people out there and demand that the government be opened. The wall nonsense can wait for a day when nonsense is affordable. We've stood by and waited for someone to do something to put out the fire but it's our house that's burning and we have to save whatever is left.
Organize and protest.
9
There were once valid reasons to be Republican. although I have never counted myself among them. Among Republicans there exist those whom I genuinely like. I respect real conservative opinion even though I seldom share it.
But today's Republican Party is not authentically conservative. It is as extremist as it is mindlessly malevolent. Today's GOP deserves Steve King and Steve King deserves the GOP, even though the country does not.
And as for President Trump, he is the creature of what the GOP has become, not the other way around.
18
Thanks to Frank Bruni for this exacting takedown of Republican hypocrisy. This is what we need from the media - reminders of context and recent history.
5
It is all obviously about winning and losing with both sides of the aisles. Racism, corporatism and Jesus loving aside, what are the Conservatives truly trying to win?
2
Frank on Sunday had his Bizarro World hat on as he wrote of his hopes that the media would actually not be supportive of Trump in 2020 like they were in 2016. Today, Frank has his "Of Course I'm A Democrat" hat on when he chastises the GOP for the Steve King fiasco. Roasting King is fine, but our liberal friends should be careful about throwing rocks near glass houses: am wondering where Frank is on new Dem Congresswomen Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib, who have flaunted anti-Semitism and danced around terrorist affiliations with nary a peep from Dem leadership. And let's not get started on the Democratic Party's dalliances with Minister Farrakhan. Frank, the Repubs occasionally clean their house: with the exception of Al Franken...who almost dodged a bullet...we rarely see the Dems clean theirs. Spare me the sanctimony.
2
@Achilles
Ah, I see. A heel.
This reminds me of Claude Rains in "Casablanca" being shocked that gambling was going on at RIck's or is it the epitome of hypocrisy given the many instances of Trump making racist remarks, most glaringly the "many fine people on both sides at Charlottesville"?
Will they now disavow him? They have been willing to go along with any and everything he says and does so long as they hold power and get tax cuts and SCOTUS nominations. They have been using racism since Nixon, including Reagan's "welfare queens" and Bush Sr.'s Willie Horton ad and Bush Jr.'s slur that John McCain had a black love child (actually an adopted south Asian daughter) during the primaries in the South.
There is a long history of race baiting in the GOP. So, no kudos for calling out this ignoramus while tolerating the one in the White House.
5
Maybe Republican comments about King looking for a new line of work mean that they think he should run for president.
3
What ever happened to "it's never too late to do the right thing"? Do we need to forget what Steve King has said and ne? Of course not. Do we need to forgive him? of course not. I really don't care what's motivating the Reprehensible Party. It is currently doing the right thing and that's better than it's been.
2
@lhc
Bruni (and I) disagree because "doing the right thing" here is entirely self-serving and a fig leaf only.
@Phil Carson I appreciate that, Phil, but, in my opinion, intent doesn't really matter (in a n on-legal context). What matters (to me) is that young people and Trump voters hear politicians turning thumbs down on vicious, racist comments.
Too little, too late. No forgiveness, no forgetting.
8
The few recent times I’ve watched Leader McCarthy standing behind Trump while Trump was mouthing more of his outrageous comments I thought McCarthy looked very uncomfortable. We will see if he will have the courage to speak up as Trump says even more outrageous things, which he will. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not holding my breath.
2
@Bob Morrison
McCarthy is Trump’s candy man. Literally. He doesn’t look uncomfortable standing behind Trump at all. If he had any courage, it would have been displayed any number of times during his tenure in office, especially in the last three years. His main concern seems to be making sure that his boss (!!) get only red Skittles.
GOP concern regarding racism is proportional to how much power it may cost them. This pattern is so consistent, it is a wonder than anyone with any moral code remains loyal to the party.
7
Why is this a surprise?
Republicans:
Only oppose something that directly and adversely affects them
Will only express "outrage" when they get caught
Will offer thoughts and prayers and continue what they were doing i.e., perpetrate more problems.
3
Mitch McConnell "said that King should find 'another line of work'; that is precious. We all know he'd immediately get a contract with rot wing media, alongside Hannity, Coulter, Limbaugh, Carlson, and that's where the republican party gets its marching orders. "Another line of work" = "get behind the curtain and pull the levers."
Bruni himself engages in a bit of political expediency himself: he never mentions the republican voters. Republican politicians are afraid of the "wrath" of the stain in the White House because of the base. If not for the marching band of white supremacy, would republican voters tolerate a politician who denigrates American institutions, American values, American leaders, and elevates our adversaries? At best, republican voters are only slightly annoyed by trump's embrace of white supremacy; they're willing, once again, to tolerate it, to tolerate racial discrimination and racial violence. It's who they are.
8
so he should not be condemned? confused.
2
@Anthill Atoms
The entire Republican Party should be condemned...and probably banned from elected office until they can demonstrate that they can run an electoral campaign that is not inspired by white supremacy.
Still confused ?
18
@Socrates
An entire poltical party, to which half the country belongs, should be condemned! Sorry mate, this is America. It doesn't work that way.
@Anthill Atoms
He means they are hypocrites and are using King as a sacrificial lamb.
King's obvious racism is overshadowing their use of dog whistles. They want to appeal to racists while maintaining the illusion that there are not appealing to racists.
King makes that difficult as does trump. But they can't do anything to trump, the base loves his bullhorn of racism, so they are going after King who uses a bullhorn of racism instead.
To answer your question: he went off script. Sure, they all feel the same way that he does, and they plan on caging more non-whites than ever, but King jumped the gun.
16
@rubbernecking
Nah, I think you're giving most in the GOP the dubious credit of actually feeling anything at all.
What most of them are is shameless cynical hollow vessels for whatever stances or rhetoric will get them reelected and an eventual sinecure at a band or lobbying firm.
As abhorrent as King's beliefs are, it appears they're genuine. Most Republicans haven't had a genuine belief in years, if ever.
2
@rubbernecking
"They all feel the same way that he does" - i.e. all Republicans are the same, all racist. That's a pretty prejudiced statement in itself.
"and they plan on caging more non-whites than ever"
I assume you're talking about the border. What would you have them do, allow unlimited illegal migration? Or is simply having laws in and of itself racist? I wish Democrats would realize that when you label anything and everything as racist, with no distinction or thought behind it, you actually damage your cause and make yourselves look like crazy, opportunist fools. Commentators and voters on the right don't take seriously Democratic claims of racism, since they're so constant, baseless, unfocused and gratuitous. It doesn't have to be that way. Call out real racism, and only real racism. Before you declare that all border security is inherently racist, maybe just stop and reflect for a moment.
Senators Grassley and Ernst and Iowa's governor all supported King when he ran for reelection last November. For the first time since he's been in Congress, a Democrat (an unknown Democrat) made a decent showing against him. Two of Iowa's districts that had Republican representatives went Democratic in November, leaving King as the only Iowa Republican in the House. I'd like to think Republicans in Congress are having an attack of conscience, but their primary motivation is probably the realization that he can't win the next time around.
34
Here's the calculus of the Republicans. Good chance Pence will become our next President before 2020, if so then this will be a good PR move for the new, improved, big tent Republican party. If Trump manages to hang on then it doesn't make much difference and the Republicans can go back to being themselves.
130
@Chris W. That's it. It's a PR stunt. The GOP is worried that if worse comes to worst, they will continue to alienate their brown, black and female voters and eventually be aced out. Therefore, it is expedient for them to self-righteously toss a little sacrificial white meat at the black, brown and womenfolk to make it seem like they're open-minded and broadening their base. But when all of this temporary purging has been said and done, the GOP will still be the party of the old white rich men who are only interested in other old white rich men, and nothing of value will have been accomplished.
90
@Jackie. The Republicans can do whatever they can to try to portray themselves as a “Big Tent” party between now and November 2020.
We have long memories, and I’m certain Donald Trump will be out the door and in a legal world of hurt. And so will his kids.
28
@Chris W.
ABSOLUTELY NO WAY that Pence becomes President. Even less than GHWB getting a second term.
7
Grown men and woman who are afraid to confront Trump's racism because he might tweet something mean about them. This is what the Republican party has become.
74
Thank you, if that doesn't more or less define them nothing will.
6
@Linda
I think it's the other way around. The President is called a racist every day in this paper, with no hard evidence ever offered. Somehow, the fact that he's never acutally said anything racist doesn't seem to matter, since everything can be construed as a dog whistle by those who oppose his policies.
Honestly, I'm not proud of either party's record on racism. Let's move this topic radically forward.
Why our government doesn't have a 0 tolerance policy on racist and sexist thuggery I'll never know.
89
I agree that the Democratic Party isn’t perfect, but this sounds like way too much of a false equivalence. Pretending that the Democrats would tolerate such extreme racist statements is disingenuous, and similar to what a lot of the news media has done which has contributed to normalizing this behavior in the first place.
98
@sb - I believe the answer is contained in the question.
2
@sb
Guess you must have missed the latest photos of the newly elected Congress. One party looked like America - eighty-seven women, members of multiple religions, members of multiple races. The other party looked like the cast from "Mad Men."
Guess which was which?
57
I was born and raised in King's district. There's no way he could have won when I lived there.
Let's hope there's a true blue wave in 2020 that will wash away Trump and travel all the way to Iowa to displace this disgrace.
263
@bnyc
read pczisny comment above. look at these statistics
Why the GOP desertion of Mr. King after 16 years in office?
2002 - King 62%, Democratic opponent 38%
2004 - 63% - 37%
2006 - 59% - 36%
2008 - 60% - 37%
2010 - 66% - 32%
2012 - 54% - 45% (his opponent that year was the former First Lady of Iowa, the U.S. Agriculture Secretary's wife)
2014 - 62% - 37%
2016 - 62% - 38%
2018 - 50% -47%
Do not try to tell us Iowa has not or would not back this racist. He crushed the opposition and everyone of the voters knew who he was and what he stood for.
21
@bnyc I grew up in Ohio many years ago. I still remember the general impression I then had of Iowa: pretty good state, great public education, emphasis on high-school wrestling as much if not more so than on football, a "modern" state worthy of emulating, similar to those decent upper Midwest states Minnesota and Wisconsin.
Now – what happened!?! Iowa (and Wisconsin) –so sad to see you go. You have now all joined the ranks of "What's the Matter with Kansas?" Good luck with that for your kids' future.
18
@davey385 -- he barely won in 2018 ... a Democrat put up a great fight. Calling 50 -47 "crushed" is ridiculous.
Iowans in his district are not uniformly racist.
Of course, Ames Iowa ... the state University ... is in his district.
5
Spot on, Mr Bruni. Why is Trump exempt from all the laws, protocols, practices and ethics that govern everyone else? Because he attacks anyone who points out his misdeeds and we are scared of him?
16
As a sad long term Iowa citizen, I am here to tell you all that King said nothing, NOTHING, he hasn't been saying publicly and persistently since his first term. What the real upset is about is that all the Iowa and national Republican leaders since that time have said nothing about it, giving their very clear tacit approval, because the real truth is they are all that way, just smart enough not to be so obvious about it. What they are worried about now is that people will start noticing, finally, all of THEM; so the deal is that he falls on his sword and draws attention toward himself and away from them, as they breathe a sigh of relief.
45
@marek pyka
Illuminating to hear this from the source.
The Republicans are not "doing the right thing" in their condemnation of King. With apologies to Claude Rains, Republicans "are shocked, shocked to find that King is a racist".
I give them No Credit for their enlightenment; they are afraid to criticize the Emperor, so they find a suitable scapegoat in King.
I hope the voters in Iowa and elsewhere are not duped by this sudden conversion of the party. While he may not be as outwardly obvious, Trump is nonetheless an equal to Rep King of Iowa. Until the Republicans recognize Trump for what he is and make their voices heard, I will not recognize any moral value in what they say or do.
298
@Fred Claude Rains said it, but Julie and Phil Epstein wrote it.
9
@Don-E.
Yes! Great script. Great movie.
6
@Fred Most Republicans actually do recognize Trump for what he is, and they are fine with it.
9
Mr. Bruni says that he gets it, but his calculus is pedestrian.
King is a follow-on to Syria and Bone Saw - more Republican moral repositioning so they can dump Trump ahead of 2020 and keep their non-Trump Republicans while not losing the Trumpsters.
Trump still has the Republicans in a corner and they need to get out. If they impeach or threaten he will turn his millions of Trumpster votes against them. They are unable to rehabilitate themselves politically, which they need, with no room to maneuver.
The Republicans are working on a Golden Parachute and a pardon for Trump prior to 2020. They will get Trump out, Pence in, and an endorsement from Trump to keep the Trumpster vote. Trump will trade President to be a world-class Kingmaker.
Any country that wants a friendly policy, they just pay Trump a Billion and he tells the Republicans what they should do to avoid a primary from his Trumpsters. Easy money.
15
@Fourteen,
You are saying it is derivative, and not integral? Or merely that he needs to see the dentist... ?
@Fourteen
Oh my God. As a lifelong resident of Indiana, I’m hoping and praying that Mike Pence will NOT ascend to the presidency, ever!
We were getting ready to throw the miscreant out of our governor’s office when Trump threw him the brass ring oh VP. He is just as dangerous as Donald Trump, even more so in some ways.
8
Good luck to them! Trump will never give up his crown. And the republicans have zero control over him.
2
The Republican party has built a tradition of racism and bigotry over the last 50 years since Nixon won the 1968 election with Southern Strategy. Steve King is the product of that strategy, as is Trump Presidency.
Trump is the death of GOP, not because of what he's doing, but because GOP has so uncompromisingly stood behind him in his craziness. White men over 65 are the only group where GOP reigns supreme. GOP was never more than 40% of voters, but because Senate favours sparsely populated Midwest states that are socially conservative, they've had outsize influence. Plus Democrats are lazy voters.
Despite massive disenfranchisement efforts GOP got a drubbing in 2018 midterms, except in Senate.
24
As a native person of color, one gets sadly used to seeing, reading and hearing racist drivel of all sorts. And of course, these days no one normal means to be racist. Ha. We are told that we have simply misinterpreted the words, or actions, or intentions. Or are being too sensitive. I have heard the excuses before.
This action to remove King from committee assignments is one very small step for the Republican Congressional leaders. There are many more steps to go to make a difference.
We live in a country first native to Indians, the first citizens; then immigrated and settled by people countries from all over the world. Such immigration continues today and should. To choose one color, one religion über alles is a mistake for all of us if our country is to succeed as we pick up the pieces from the djt administration.
19
This nationalist, white supremacist, anti immigration strain has been a part of the Republican playbook since civil rights reform in the early sixties. This is not a surprise - it has just accelerated under the example and daily actions of our Enabler In Chief, DJT. It's just become inconvenient for the Republicans that Steve King vocalized, repeatedly, what an alarming number of Republicans think privately, and voice only in coded words. It's equally alarming that there are so many Americans who clearly are fine with those sentiments and continually elect and re-elect Republicans that think, believe, and act in this way.
25
This is a calculated ruse aimed at the small-minded base, which can now rationalize to themselves that they're not actually followers of a racist far-right cult, because if this offends the party/cult, then maybe what Trump does is not so bad, right, because surely the party/cult would condemn him too if he were as bad. Right?
11
It is blatantly obvious that the Republican party is OK with racism, as long as it is not as overt as Mr. King's.
Trump's racism is close to that of King's so I guess that is where Republicans draw the line. They are down with racism as long as it is used with a bit more subtlety. Republicans know how to use their dog whistles.
10
We are beyond hypocrisy (many have no clear meaning of the word), and are far beyond people caring about the optics.
The President has once and for all given cover to all elements that have been using code words. They all can be racists now under the guise of ''national security'' or other terms.
The white backlash is fierce to human rights for all coming to the forefront, but that backlash is of a shrinking minority.
There is nothing they can do about that.
11
The gutless Republicans have to show they are doing something and Mr. King is the easiest of pickings.
Mr. Bruni, you are correct, if they had any real standards they would never have selected Trump as their candidate in the first place.
11
"Be glad for King’s exile. But don’t be impressed by the Republicans who are ordering it." True enough.
What about the racists who voted for King? What about the racists who voted for Trump? What about the racists who voted for other racists Republicans?
King is not the only racists Republican (as Mr. Bruni makes clear by the party's prior associations with him, defense of him, silence about his racists statements). The official Republican Party position is that it is not racists but the evidence by its positions, actions and inaction is that it is flagrantly racists. It is anti-black, anti-Latino, anti-LGBTQ, anti-woman, anti-Muslim,anti-immigrant, anti-worker, anti-American.
Republicans cannot wash their hands of racism, it is in their blood, in their DNA.
Republicans can turn on King but cannot turn on Trump. King is disposable because he has lost all deniability while Trump represents pure white racists hatred with a semi-semblance of deniability...however thinly and threadbare deniable. Trump lies; his followers believe.
In the end this is a sad sad exposure of Iowans. Not all Iowans for sure, but enough of a majority to repeatedly vote for a racists to represent them. Of course Iowans are not alone; most southern states do the same. But back to Iowa...
Perhaps Trump's tariffs which are costing Iowan farmers their excessive profits for their beans is just karma. Likely very few Iowans are nonwhite but are mostly evangelical "Christian," AKA, non-Jesus Christians.
10
@JABarry
Someone from Maryland lecturing about Iowans. That’s all we need.
The Rs need a scapegoat. So the rest of them can skate on by with impunity.
5
Republicans' condemnation of Steve King parallels the Saudi's push to execute Khashoggi's killers. In both cases a scapegoat is used to protect the man at the top, to deflect criticism and to present false and misleading evidence that justice is being served.
20
The Republican Party becomes ever more repellent with each new utterance. And yet, a quarter of the country gives them unflinching loyalty. Alas.
8
Ask the following question: What did change that allow Mr. King, a known racist, to come out and make his recent racist remarks so publicly? Why didn't he make those very remarks three years ago?
2
@Eddie B.
Actually he was. He has been the most blatant racist of the republican party since he was 1st elected.
Steve King. That name conjures horror.
6
@Tomnorm
Yes. The politics of the famous author are dreadful.
Yes we can blame the Republican party for a long history of racism, fear mongering and "misuse" of the facts. The electorate of Iowa should take even a bigger role in this American farce. They elected an American White Supremacist 9 times to Congress. They could not get over their blind allegiance to the Republican party and fear of the other to replace this least of Americans. Bravo to Alexandria Ocasio Cortez for shaking the Democratic party. When will Republicans be as brave?
7
Republican leadership of Mitch, Cruz, and Kevin cannot abhor bigotry at the highest level of the party by Donald Trump. It is easy for the leadership to make a scapegoat of Steve King and remove him from the committee, but would not do anything to reprimand their leader for his racist overtures throughout.
5
Let us not forget that the majority of Mr. King's constituents elected him to office. Stripping him of his committee positions is basically a slap on the wrist & an insult to the American people. His White Nationalist rhetoric is championed by this president & the fact that King is still in Washington makes it fertile ground for racism & anti-Semitism.
10
He covered my mouth so no-one would hear me scream.
2
Send him to St. Helena, middle of Atlantic. Europe from where his granddaddy crossed Atlantic will not take him.
3
Republicans could have done their best to prevent King from being elected if his views did not represent the GOP. Now it's too late for crocodile tears.
The GOP is sinking under the weight of its own hypocrisy.
12
The best, most incisive, most thoughtful column Mr. Bruni has ever written.
2
"Cursed juncture" today -- Trumpian times -- Frank Bruni! Ashcanning the Steve Kings of our anti-immigrant, bigoted world is America's Job One now. The G.O.P. Rebuking their own Steve King for his white supremacist and white nationalist remarks is just a stalking horse for mounting the real challenge, against the incumbency of our 45th president. That challenge, against the most unfit and grossly ignorant president in our history, will be met this year. Though America's waters are still muddied from the 2 years of Trump's chaotic and demented administration, it's clear he will be removed -- soon come! -- by lawful means long before running for our presidency in 2020.
2
Condemning one bigot is better than none. It is a baby step in the right direction.
3
Today you have people like Ben Shapiro and Milo Yiannopoulos defending the Right with modern and, arguably, rational and intelligent dialogue. Guys like Steve King are just the dying breed of open racists that are not long for the world both as relevant politicians and businessmen, and literally as people why are still alive on the planet. Whoever takes his place, even if they share some of his sentiment, will have to temper their internal personal misguided perceptions of non-whites if they want to work in the ever growing racial and gender diverse world of American politics. Congratulations Iowa! You are a leader in renewable energy, and now you are cleaning old and useless refuse in your politics!
2
@orange kayak Ben Shapiro and Milo are not equals. Be careful with that distinction. You might learn something.
@orange kayak
The only thing the two you mention do is that they keep their racism sly, couched and coded language that tries to hide the racism to the rest of us, while with a wink and nod they tell the racists it's ok.
Morally convenient and a way to stay in power. That is the only reason that repub are condemning racism in this moment.
If 51% of the electorate were racist, the repubs mentioned in this article would be wearing white hoods to work.
THAT is what republicans are. Pretend patriots.
11
It would be interesting to re-litigate the Kavanaugh debacle in light of the republicans' eyes opening after the slaughter they suffered through in the last election.
Racism, old white manism and misogyny have been republican hallmarks in the trump era. The trump era is ending so the rats need to jump to the next ship.
8
King's base constituents (Sioux County, Iowa) know what he stands for. They also know but won't admit that #IA04 would crash economically without undocumented labor. This community is strongly Dutch Reform and view being a racist as a lesser sin than being a Democrat.
12
@Gene Dieken,
this. The compartmentalization of the King immigration stance away from the farms using undocumented labor extensively is mind-blowing.
2
I went to an integrated high school in a "progressive" town near New York City, yet in the lunch room we were as segregated as Alabama in 1950. In the town where I work there is a sizeable Italian American population and there is a social club in town. I would imagine most of its members are of Italian descent. Look at the innumerable religious denominations as yet another example of the tendency for human beings to organize themselves into communities of people who share something in common, beyond the fact that we're all carbon based life forms.
A distrust of "others" from outside our group is intrinsic to the human condition. There have been many times in my life where what I said was different from what I thought. It is not reasonable for anyone to expect never to harbor, for even a second, a racist thought.
What we can and should expect of ourselves, and most certainly of those who represent us, is that we don't give voice to these thoughts when we have them. More important still, we must make the effort to treat one another with respect and not act on our own particular prejudices.
I have laughed at ethnic jokes and I've told ethnic jokes and I don't think I'm unique in that. This is why I can't believe people who claim they don't. In this regard, we all live in glass houses, they only differ in their opacity.
1
@TH
I grew up in such a neighborhood. The thing is most of us have gotten away from the hate and fear of the other. Others cling to their hatred.
1
The “party of Lincoln”, huh?
3
@Patrick alexander
They are dedicated neo-Confederates.
The Party of Jefferson Davis
The Birther Liar Party
Whites R Us
18
@Patrick alexander More like the party of Jefferson Davis.
2
@Patrick alexander
Not Lincoln, the Obshcherossiyskiy Narodnyy Front; the All-Russia People's Front.
One thing is for sure as the King story develops and then subsides; Iowa senator Chuck Grassley will not say a word for public consumption until he's certain it is safe to do so. Until he's certain he won't offend the rural constituents who are his bread and butter voters. Sadly, King's act, as I am sure other Iowans have written, is old news in the Hawkeye state.
I was at the capital when he was a state senator and he would regale lobbyists with stories about how he did or said something outrageous just to offend Democrat colleagues. He loved the attention and he wasn't shy about pushing the envelope on cultural issues such as "English only" legislation for state documents. But established politicians like Grassley and Governor Terry Branstad wouldn't challenge King out some sort of fear that he had a pipeline of voters at his beck and call. Ted Cruz certainly believed that as well. Which says something horrible about Iowa and Iowans.
31
This is a glowing example of why Iowa doesn’t represent the values of the nation. They need to have their primary moved to July.
47
@RJR
Steve King received only 158,000 votes in a state of over 3 million people. 75% of Iowa’s House representation is Democratic. Maybe you’re right - Iowa’s values are too liberal for the nation as a whole.
How very open-minded of you to paint with such a broad brush.
2
@RJR Not gonna say that the IA caucus shouldn't be moved. Also Steve King shoulda been gone LONG ago.
But Iowa did vote Obama in 2008, legalized gay marriage pretty early, and flipped 2 house seats from R to D this year.
King's district is aggressively rural in comparison to the others, and that is the divide writ large here.
7
@RJR
...the July AFTER the election...
1
Scapegoat:
“A person who is blamed for the wrongdoings, mistakes, or faults of others, especially for reasons of expediency.”
17
The rapidity with which the Republican guard seized on Mr. King's latest offensive verbiage is not surprising—
Trump's complicit lackey, McConnell, quickly pounced, followed by McCarthy, and others wanting to chime in. Even wishy-washy freshman Mitt Romney.
If any voter or citizen can't easily see the faux display, they're as gullible as Trump supporters.
34
You're spot on about Republicans throwing Mr. King under the bus only after looking at his declining poll numbers and lining up a Republican replacement for the next election.
Nonetheless, it is quite pleasing to see Mr. King wandering the halls of Congress with a blank look, wondering what just ran him over and kicked him to the side of the road.
Surely those who orchestrated his long overdue demise must recognize deep down they are acting very much like rats on a sinking ship.
39
@greg YOU are "spot on." Morally corrupt people really know no other way to respond but as...morally corrput people.
Since Willie Horton, Republicans have played the race card in every shape and form in the media and their rallies. Steve King says what conservatives, Fox News and Limbaugh almost openly propagate around the country all the time. King is thrown under the bus for being vocal. He is no more racist than the Trump base.
It's has been all about race forever.
43
The GOP wants to (and will ultimately learn they can't) have it both ways. They're willing to denounce an individual racist like Steve King (after he's secured a congressional seat for the party, and once he's already been criticized by the press and public), but they're not eager in the least to denounce racism itself if it means meting out a well-deserved smackdown to the sitting POTUS from their own party.
These people stand for nothing.
32
You know that's not true, Dara.
They stand for and legislate exclusively for Greed Over People and are happy to flush their nation down a filthy Trump Toilet for it.
18
@D Price
Or, maybe, they're able to tell the difference between an actual racist like King and a silly old blowhard like Trump. I have yet to see an actual white supremacist quote from Trump.
They're attacking Steve King because he is low-hanging fruit and they fear going after Trump (who has all the appearances of a nationalist) and his base. I'm grateful for the time we've spent with Trump (even with all the dangers attendant) to expose Republican hypocrisy. Fiscal conservatives? Big tent? Good businessmen? Patriots? Pro-Life? Pro-"little guy"? Pfiffle.
30
Bruni is spot-on, but I would go further. This is an oft-repeated Republican strategy. Find one Republican scapegoat to blame (who’s not this president), or find one Republican to levy criticism over something outrageous, while the rest of the Republicans get away with deafening silence. Don’t offend the Republican base, much of which is racist, sexist, etc. Repeat ad nauseum. Maintaining their power requires maintaining their support of racist and sexist Republican supporters, of which there are plenty.
18
"Strong and righteous words. Hats off to Senator Cruz."
Not so fast. Senator Cruz is hypocrisy personified. As you point out, Cruz used Steve King when it served his purposes. Now he's outraged.
With Trump, Cruz has the situation reversed. He was outraged about the things Trump said and did during the 2016 campaign. Now all is forgotten and Cruz is Trump's buddy. Posing with Trump during the latter's visit to Texas about the border wall this month, accepting Trump's endorsement and help during his re-election campaign and so on.
There is a reason most of his Senate colleagues don't like Cruz. There is much not to like about Cruz and his hypocrisy is but one reason.
31
Give the R's some credit - it only took them 16-years to condemn a consistently, openly racist member of their party.
His usefulness must have finally been outweighed by his liability.
Unfortunately, there are many that harbor the same thoughts but are simply not as outspoken. Trump is certainly among that number.
11
Well openly racist Steve Kind no longer on any committee in Congress---dumping him was the GOP nice thing to do. And, the establishment Republicans new propaganda show of pretending to the nicest folks that you would ever want to know does not bode well for Trump being able to hang around much longer. The Republicans are very skilled in shaping a party line that influences the masses within the public market and drawing nice folks into their ranks adds in folks that are going to be increasingly offended by Trump who has no capacity to be or even fake being a niece guy. Trump spews gas on the fire by raging away at the weak nice folks that are traitors to his belligerently stand bully tall.
1
@Sam Osborne
I think the revelation in these very that the FBI investigated Trump for near-treason was the final straw. The GOP can't drop Trump just yet, but they need to start somewhere, and King is today's goat. It is all a show to permit McConnell to continue his own anti-American jihad with no questions asked.
1
Speaking of disgusting and obviously racist, anybody notice who was absent from the Feast of Champions table last night graciously paid for by our R.I.C.?
We had FRENCH fries. We had pizza, (because obviously that too, has a good clean European country of origin). And we had burgers. An American staple.
But no Taco Bell.
The man can't help himself.
5
My thoughts exactly. King is a sacrifice to the alter of Trump. Republicans now control the primary again so King is easily cast to the fire. Sincere remorse over King's actual statements and actions though are nowhere to be found. In private chambers, Cruz and company are saying "better him than me." That's politics I suppose. Republicans though are hypocritically sadistic.
The proof is in the action. No one, not even Steve Stivers, called for King's resignation. Republicans don't want to offend the racists who believe they are racists. They need someone to appeal to racists but Trump is currently carrying that entire mantel for the GOP right now.
6
All of this has to be addressed by the simple fact that a good third of the white people in this country support the notions of people like Trump and King. That is the fundamental issue.
16
"So they’re taking on King instead of taking on Trump. It’s safer. That’s what this is really about: the sacrifice of one wretched bigot to atone for the indulgence of another...This has less to do with courage than with convenience."
This is a perfect description of the Republican party and the newly-moral Mitch McConnell. Their "outrage" is reserved for political expediency and what the latest repulsive, transparent statement about a fellow Republican can do for their re-election or their legacy. The current Republican party will go down as the most unpatriotic, vile party ever in the history of our country. Lincoln would be appalled.
7
"many of them yearn to make a stand or at least a statement against white nationalism"
Yah, right, they are yearning to say something that is completely against what the GOP stands for.
2
The Wall is entirely, completely about Racism. The disasterous Shutdown is entirely about funding a useless monument to Racism. King is just obviously, blatantly letting the smelly Cat out of the bag. Some of the GOP operatives and Donors realize that this Shutdown will be rightfully blamed on the GOP.
Delicious.
24
1) A veto-proof bill in the House and Senate to reopen the government.
2) Articles of Impeachment, passed by the House, with a vote for conviction in the Senate.
Not until then can republicans start thinking about rehabilitating their image (and honor).
16
You are entirely correct. There is nothing bold or brave about the timing or substance of the Republican rebuke of this nothing of a man as they continue their obsequious behavior toward the President. And it certainly looks more like a matter of pragmatism than principle.
Still, it is heartening to see that Republicans, even in Trump's America, seem finally to see the need to draw a line on the right, beyond which they cannot allow the party to drift. Does it even matter what the moral failings of these individuals may be? Isn't it more important--whatever their motivations--that they are collectively disavowing what has been an ascendant ideology within their party? America and capitalism have always been steered by self-interest, after all, not benevolence. MLK said it best: "We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality." I hardly care that they had selfish motivations. They did the right thing, for the wrong reasons. Still, by serving themselves, they inadvertently served the common good. Let's not snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.
It is fair, and may in time be necessary, to question the sincerity of the suddenly self-righteous Republicans who have conveniently found their backbones. Their about face on racism--or at least their willingness to tolerate it--is undoubtedly nothing more than a self-serving survival maneuver. For today, who cares? Even if they only turned on him for fear of the retribution of the American people... that's still good news.
3
Well, the loss of 40 seats and perhaps 41 depending on the outcome of the apparently fraudulent results in NC, was enough to shake the GOP out of its torpor.
Steve King almost lost in 2018 so they likely smelled blood in the water and figured he was expendable to make a point.
But they aren’t woke. This is just an emergency drill.
11
1968 and 1972 - the Republican 'Southern Strategy', as articulated by Nixon's political strategist Kevin Phillips: "the more Negroes who register as Democrats in the South, the sooner the Negrophobe whites will quit the Democrats and become Republicans"
1976 - Republican Gerald Ford made no racist appeals to white supremacy; he lost
1980 - Ronald Reagan kicked off his 1980 election campaign at the Neshoba County Fair in Mississippi, close to the place where three civil rights volunteers were viciously murdered in 1964 by three neo-Confederate white men
1988 - Lee Atwater helped George H. W. Bush surf the racist Willie Horton ad to elected office
1992 and 1996 - Neither GHWB nor Bob Dole invoked racism; they lost
2000 - George W. Bush and Karl Rove sabotaged fellow Republican John McCain in the South Carolina primary with a whisper campaign about McCain's 'black child'; in fact, McCain and his wife had adopted a Pakistani child; and in the November general election, Jeb Bush purged the Florida central voter file of minority names; there was widespread minority voter suppression on election day and during the vote recount process
2008 - John McCain is the first modern-era non-racist GOP nominee; he lost
2012 - Mitt Romney failed to invoke racism; he lost
2016 - The racist Birther-Liar-In-Chief surfs into office as the proud parade marshal of American white supremacy
But somehow, Steve King must go !
The entire Republican Party is a well-dressed version of the KKK.
485
@Socrates Good point about St. Ronald's dog whistling in Mississippi to sprint from starting gate; so many have forgotten that nasty piece of work by the hero of the "party of Lincoln".
35
@Socrates Well said. How long before you get hired for your own op-ed slot?
41
@Socrates Don't forget the prime subject of Reagan's campaign kickoff speech near where civil rights workers were murdered, "states rights", aka the winking support of the continuation of Jim Crow policies. This was no accident and the message was very clear for white southerners.
19
condemn king but not trump. Hypocrisy.
24
Why do Republican politicians even bother to still pretend to have any semblance of 'values'?
If I were deliberately voting for a senator like Mitch McConnell, or Ted Cruz, I don't imagine that my reasons for doing so would have anything to do with their respect of social mores.
And my apologies in advance for painting with such a broad brush, but watching an entire political party devolve into some fetishistic ego cult over a couple of decades has been a deeply disquieting experience.
54
The more I learn about US politics the more amazed I become. A known white supremacist was not the Justice committee? I suppose he is a "fine person" by Trump's definition, but Trump didn't put him on the committee. It convenient to blame Trump for recent outrageous republican behaviors, but clearly it's been around long before Trump.
17
There's nothing impressive about any current member of the GOP!
Going out of politics party
Republicans need to start a new party with sane progressive members , the nation won't be embarrassed to consider voting for
7
I was an Eisenhower Republican until Nixon appealed to Southern bible thumping racists to switch parties. I was born and raised in upstate New York but learned a lot when the Air Force stationed me in segregated Dixie. What a fantastic country we could have become if Lincoln had bid Dixie farewell.
Steve King is only part of the problem. People who voted for him, with this history, are the main problem. Remember that when the pundits jibberjabber about the Sainted Iowa caucuses.
39
"I am shocked, shocked to find out that there is racism going on in this party."
If Republicans think they can sidestep the fallout from two years of kissing Trump's white backside by sacrificing King on the altar of their self-righteousness they are making a huge mistake. As Bruni rightly points out in his example of the cozy relationship between Ted Cruz and King, the more toxic they paint King now the more they are going to have to defend their association with him in 2020 and beyond.
27
Cowardice masquerading as compassion for the Other. Because it's not just Trump that the GOP is afraid of. It's the GOP base.
Republicans may not be able to balance a budget, but the can count.
The can count the number of electoral votes won by a dimwitted reality TV star with multiple bankruptcies who ran on a platform of open racism and xenophobia.
They can count how many in the base still (!) tell pollsters they believe Obama was a foreign born Muslim.
They can look at FiveThirtyEight and see that Donald "fine people on both sides" Trump still commands an overall ~40 approval rating.
They can read polls that tell them that the most reliable GOP voter, white elephant, support Trump by over 70%. Why Trump? Why so fervently? It's not exactly a party wanting in politicians who are pro-life and pro conservative judges.
Finally turning on King was the right thing to do but it is also a weak-kneed attempt to hold on to a few more independents without offending their base. Because there is one more thing thing the can count on:
If the GOP base turns on Trump it's not going to because they tire of his hateful divisiveness. It's because, in the words of that now famous Trump supporter from FL:
"I thought he was going to do good things. He's not hurting the people he needs to be hurting."
12
I'd like to understand why "when did White supremacy become an offensive idea?" requires condemnation, but nothing else this guy ever said does. I can't.
Sometimes I think that Congressional Republicans just move toward the light, with Trump and the Koch brothers holding the candle. They must have moved it away from King this time. I don't know: maybe one of them sneezed or something.
7
Steve King and Trump are the darlings of Northern/Northwest Iowa. For term after term Iowans voted heavily for King. Then in 2016 overwhelmingly supported that which would become America's most wretched president. Excellent column, but the tragedy--and culpability--runs deeper than GOP opportunists.
11
Do you really believe that there's a moral distinction between someone who embraces racism & demagoguery & dishonesty as a means to an end, vs. someone who "really" believes in them? Sort of like the difference between robbing a bank out of greed vs robbing it because you don't think the bank needs the money? Like the difference between assaulting someone because you can get away with it, vs. assaulting them because you think they deserve it?
2
Republicans have singlehandedly managed to weaken the foundations of our democracy and sown discord among Americans. They have repeatedly acted in bad faith and blatantly abused their power to the detriment of the country.
The Republican Party of today represents greed for money and power at any cost together with a lack of civility, good conscience, compassion, fortitude, and moral decency. There is little that they can do at this point to redeem themselves and undo the cynicism, derision, and revulsion that I feel towards them.
13
Thought experiment: Where would Steve the K be this day had Rs successfully, even barely, held on to the House majority? It's also worth noting that western Iowa has no fewer racist voters today than on November 6, 2018.
The problem, as Mr. Rich has stated, is the bad faith bargains by Ryan, McConnell, Grassley, Ernst. et. al: Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.
8
This is all obviously part of a much larger problem. Out troops at the border, brought out as racist political "stunt" just before the mid-terms, will now be staying until September, not leaving this month as planned. On the CBS news this morning the GOP were praised for their condemnation of Mr. King. How far have we fallen when calling out "White Supremists" is considered a profile in courage?
13
Republicans only dislike King because he says out loud what they think and espouse privately. Senators Grassley and Ernst both backed King for Congress in 2018 and Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds had King as her co-chair for 2018 election. Ernst is probably worried she won't remain in her seat in 2020 and will have to return to Iowa and wear bread bags on her shoes as she claimed she did growing up.
10
Steve King's racist remarks were OK for the GOP when it suited them to get more votes. It does not suit them now because his remarks will alienate some voters who will not vote for them. King's philosophy is material only when it suits the GOP. At this time, it does not.
10
It seems that the “Party of Lincoln “ has no problem with racist dog whistles, racist executive actions, racist court decisions or legislation that has racially discriminatory effects. Overtly racist statements are fine, as long as the politician in question has some leverage in the party and a safe seat. If his re-election prospects start to look shaky, suddenly the party finds its collective hankies, takes them in a death clutch and intones sonorously that there is no place for such views in the GOP. Lordy, oh my and bless their hearts.
5
"and not just among Republicans."
Aaaannnnd there it is.
Let's be clear, in an commentary that plainly lays out the convenient and passive racism of the Republican Party causally tossing out 'a pox on both houses' demeans your position.
We all know that both parties are judicious in their reactions to uncomfortable situations, but you'd be hard pressed to find a Democrat who would quietly put up with 15 years of blatant public racism in the name of 'maintenance of power.'
The fact is, such ongoing racism would be unconscionable to both the politicians and voters the left, while on the right it's just an embarrassing inconvenience that's worth ignoring.
It's lazy to make that equivocation, especially in this case and in these times.
12
@Mark I could find them. Look no farther than Chicago's "machine" Democrats.
1
@Mark, while racism is the most obviously egregious of faults among the many republican lawmakers, you will also find Democrats hewing to pop-culture ideals in their public postures. Of course there's a difference between slapping a bad egg like Steve King on the wrist, and actually manipulating the ouster of a strong Senator like Al Franken, but the pandering to the crowd is essentially the same. The political assassination of Franken did not stop me from voting Democratic, and I would even vote for Gillibrand if she should manage to become the candidate. So I do not expect that the revelations of racism will stop people from voting republican. In fact, I would not expect revelations of misogyny to keep women from voting Republican (as we have already seen). Pandering to the popular zeitgeist will fail to dissuade people from their prejudices politically, it will (at most) only keep them from voting at all. I do hope for a simple message that the majority of voters can unite behind, along with a downplaying of personalities, to turn the tide in 2020.
1
@Blonde Guy
They may be machine but they are not racist. That is the exclusive purview of the GOP.
1
Thanks for writing in a national news outlet what some of us have been saying all along. Trump is a danger to the US and our allies & will go down in history as the villain he is. Talk about the #1 enemy of the people! Mitch McConnell will be remembered as his 2nd hand. McConnell deserves to be outcast for his duplicity in carrying out Trump's agenda just as much as Mr King needs to be punished for his racist agenda. Rubs need to do a lot of soul searching and house cleaning.
8
What a brave man you are Mitch McConnell. Same with you Senator Cruz. But President Trump has made similar comments. Where is the courage needed to criticize him?
10
When all else fails, do the right thing.
2
Why are you-and everyone else I have read on the subject of Mr. King-giving the voters of Iowa a free pass for electing (and reelecting, and reelecting, etc.) this openly racist politician for two decades?
7
Just remember that in a democracy (yes, even in one with the misrepresentation brought by gerrymandering, false equivalency of representation in the Senate, and the Electoral College), the electorate bears most of the blame for someone like King (or Trump) in office.
35% of the electorate IS anti-fact, anti-science, anti-college, anti-separation of church and state, and ultimately anti-reality.
King and Trump are brought to you by that segment of the electorate. That should scare the rest of us in the other 65%.
44
@Jason Vanrell and yet only 44% turn out to vote. 38% during mid-terms.
5
@Jason Vanrell
While no there's doubt that Steve King, Donald Trump and those like them are scary -- what saves the country is the fact that the rest of us are still in the 65% majority.
4
Let's hope that this is the beginning of McConnell's redemption, because he has been heavily complicit in our state of affairs. We must remember that the chaos of war is seen as opportunity to the fascist. Trump is leading us to giant war, where only the globalist wealthy will profit. How nice for democracy to evolve to this event, war, literally for the profit of the president. With his behavior in the recent and distant past, it is a horror for me to be hopeful for McConnell to do the right thing, but by joining the active process to unseat Trump, he could very well save the world a lot of trouble. I'm just sayin'.
1
Mr. Bruni says:
"I do get it. Pragmatism, expedience and the maintenance of power are the real monarchs of politics — and not just among Republicans."
Well, when even Frank Bruni can sort of give this brand of pragmatism a pass it begs the question of whether anyone cares about the real, pernicious, and dangerous damage this kind of racism inflicts on its targets.
You know, the people who have to bear the brunt of all the hatred and demonization.
Because it's not just about whether Steve King or Donald Trump can "get away with it" with his base; it's about fomenting baseless hate against large groups of people who must then suffer not only marginalization and lost opportunities generation after generation, but actual violence targeting them from those who have received "permission" to act that way by the Kings and Trumps of the world.
So this is a little too commentariat-savvy for my tastes, Mr. Bruni. When you're whipping up hatred against others, it's about a lot more than whether it works, or has been working, as a political strategy.
Look to the German experience - they actually have a different definition of what constitutes "free," and even allowable speech than we do, and they should; they had first-hand experience of what such unleashed hatred can do.
And they chose to do more about it than enable an indefensible president, or strip a low-life legislator of his committee assignments.
28
How does this action from Congress solve the systemic racial inequalities? Outing one congressman does nothing for the millions of non-whites who are in jail, in the court system, in effectively segregated schools, etc...
It does nothing to even start to make amends for the 400+ years of racism and wealthism that the US was founded on. The entire government needs to apologise and reconcile with a firm commitment to "We the People", not the corporations, not the campaign donors, not the lobbyists, not even the unions, but to each of its citizens and residents (illegal or not) for we are all human beings and need to be treated as equals with equal opportunities for the pursuit of happiness. This is what has never been achieved and until it is, the title of 'demcracy' should be removed from the United States until it truly is one.
13
Thank you for writing this. You could add that Trump's open embrace of the word "nationalist" came at a rally for the same Ted Cruz, just three months ago. As used by Trump, this word has the same meaning as "white nationalist," and in any case the history of nationalism is a horrific one.
24
The Republicans need a fall guy and a scapegoat, and they need one fast. Steve King fits their hypocritical bill perfectly, allowing them (or so they ridiculously think) to distance themselves from the Racist-in-Chief.
It their own power weren't being threatened by their paymasters in corporate America, who themselves are being threatened by the populist and extremely effective rhetoric of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and a burgeoning left wing and resurgent labor movement, McConnell and Co. would likely still be keeping their mouths shut about Steve King.
They need to show Wall Street and their jittery donors that they're not as openly nuts as Trump, so they'll pose as virtue-signalers for the duration of the latest manufactured crisis.
What they cannot accomplish at this late date is hiding the fact that they're every bit as malevolent as Trump.
They're even worse than Trump, because at least he has his ignorance and stupidity as defenses. They got nothing.
115
@Karen Garcia,
Boom. Brilliantly stated Karen --> cuts through all the smoke.
5
"Trump’s own racist behavior and remarks — including, in the run-up to the midterm elections, his proud embrace of the term “nationalist” — have emboldened the Steve Kings of the world."
True, and it's not an entirely bad thing. The Steve Kings of the world are among us whether we like it or not. Now that they're emboldened, the magnitude of this problem is clearer, and the Steve Kings themselves are much easier to identify. Those should be great aids to problem-solving. IF Americans have the will to fix this problem -- our biggest problem, by far.
7
Republicans deserve to be excoriated for exploiting racism for political gain. But Republicans are just the tip of the iceberg regarding racism. The larger problem is the thick vein of racism that runs through the populace. Republicans did not invent racism, even though they now are its chief political beneficiary. I would like to see more opinion pieces about the extent of racism across the country, what present factors are fanning the flames of that scourge, and what can be done to assuage it. Bashing Republicans will get us only so far in addressing the full depth of this intractable problem.
19
@William " I would like to see more opinion pieces about the extent of racism across the country"
Sorry, no can do. That would involve criticizing Democrats, which not permitted here.
"Republicans deserve to be excoriated for exploiting racism for political gain."
Um, have you heard any Democratic politician speak about anything in the less 50 years?
But yes, as you can see from this column and the thousands of comments here and elsewhere using this opportunity to declare the entire party to be racist to its core, the Republicans are clearly reaping immeasurable political gain.
1
@G.G.
Lyndon Johnson rid the Democratic party of racists when he pushed through civil rights legislation. The Democrats have continually tried to build on that progress. The Republicans, with their gerrymandering, voter suppression, racist dog whistles and now open white nationalism have been the party of bigotry your entire life. The fact that you can see no difference between them and the Democrats is a testimony to the conservative inability to see the truth and to apply reason to an argument.
1
@G.G.
There are many more white male Republican faces, than on the Democratic side.
Republicans proudly salute their racist party of White Identity exactly like in Confederate times. To think otherwise is a mental aberrance called false equivalence.
The fact that the Republicans, especially its leadership, had to spend days trying to figure out how to respond. Hypothetically, let's assume that a member of Congress kept publicly saying that the people who live in the state of Forgotonia were bigots, unintelligent, drug using, ne'er do wells. You can bet that the representatives/Senators from Forgotonia would not have to think twice in stating all kinds of moral rectitude statements. So, the fact that the current response has taken so long shows a moral vacuum in our leadership. King is merely the poster, the way out of their own failings toward their fellow citizens.
6
Last week I commented about Iowa and Steve King. Yes I dislike everything about him and his racism, but you need to again remember the people of Iowa voted for him. As I said before, I will do anything I can to avoid buying anything made or grown in Iowa.
20
@William Perry
Glass houses, dude.
Should we judge each sector of our geopolitical divisions by its worst political output? We would boycott each and every one. I assume that you, since November 2016, have created buying American.
5
@William Perry
Please, please, please do not hold all Iowans responsible for this man's place in Washington. He does not and has never represented me or my values or those of my many (but not enough!) friends.
187
@William Perry
Iowans also voted in Abby Finkenauer - the 2nd youngest woman ever elected to Congress and a fine person. Way to go Iowa.
9
The Repel-ican party has been openly racist for decades. Remember Ronald Reagan talking about “strapping young bucks” getting government benefits? Remember the “Cadillac welfare queens”? Racism motivates most of their evangelical “What would Jesus do?” base.
55
@Tom: I suspect many of them wear "What Would Jesus Do" bracelets because they truly don't know.
1
Frank makes the obvious point that the Republicans are sacrificing one of the little front-men of Trumpism for being just a bit too clear about the message.
King's stupidity is that he has watched Trump say repugnant things with no apparent consequences, so he thinks he can too.
King can go join all the other Trump sycophants on the scrap heap; he's unusual only in that he wasn't actually part of Trump's administration, so he can't monetize a tell-all story, and probably nobody will ever hire him as a lobbyist.
Say "hi" to Spicer, Omarosa, Bannon, and Pruitt. Be glad you stayed out of anything Mueller is interested in. Find the best place you can there and camp on it; there will be a lot more joining you soon.
11
@Lee Harrison
"King's stupidity is that he has watched Trump say repugnant things with no apparent consequences, so he thinks he can too"
He should think he has gotten away with it because he has. As Bruni articulates-he keeps getting re-elected. He was stripped of his seats on committees. So what? He still has all the other trappings and perks of a rep, pay, health insurance and retirement benefits. and now he gets these things by doing LESS work because he has no committee obligations (hey, it is hard work to prepare wingnut racist ramblings for committee hearings). He should be made to transfer his pay to furloughed Federal worker. I'd rather pay a TSA worker get paid.
Again as Bruni identifies, what Iowa voters already know about him has had no effect on their support for him. This latest racist rant will also make no difference. I am sure that those who have never before voted come out from under a rock JUST to vote for him--finally someone who espouses their heretofore socially uracist views. Thus, I have no doubt he will keep being re-elected.
I appreciate you optimism, but where is the consequence?
@Robin -- I think King will be forced to resign; we'll see if I am right.
King was on the Agriculture committee and he was thrown off. It is critically important to Iowa to have a representative on that committee.
He was the only one on the committee from Iowa -- one of the things to watch is whether another Iowan is seated. If so that would be a signal that this is just a farce ... but the Democrats (who have the votes) wouldn't do that.
This will put yuuge pressure on King to resign, so that Iowa can get somebody back on the Ag committee -- that's the real game here.
King's position will be "you want me out? What are you going to give me to leave?"
One way or another some collection of Ag. and/or Republican interests in Iowa will buy him out ... that's the infuriating thing. But his political career is over, he's toast.
Then the question is who does Iowa's 4th district elect to replace him ... perhaps another racist? Maybe not....
As an aside Iowa's 4th district is very rural, has no big cities, but does include Ames Iowa -- the university town.
The Christian Science Monitor describes the district see here:
https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/2019/0115/Shunned-by-colleagues-on-the-Hill.-But-at-home-support-for-King-runs-deep
The amazing thing is that JD Scholten, an insurgent Democratic candidate, came within 3 points of beating King in 2018. He could win in a replacement election.
This fact gives the Republicans real heartburn here.
1
King's error was expressing the GOP's position too openly. And now they are "shocked, shocked" to find out that they had a racist in their caucus.
Since the southern strategy their platform has been based on "white makes right." Only rule - don't say it openly.
40
If nominating, and then voting for, the Birther-in-Chief, was not a deal breaker for you, then you may be a racist, and even a racist political party.
Now that they see the seeds of their own destruction in the vision of folks like Steve King and Donald Trump, Republicans are finally having their Come-to-Jesus moment about racial discord. This comes about 154 years, too late.
21
A commenter yesterday came up with the most likely scenario: King's idiotic, racist statements (which he's been repeating publicly for 20 years with zero rebuke from the Republicans) came at a perfect time for the Republicans to make him their sacrificial lamb. The Republicans can posture like they're the good guys by uncharacteristically disapproving, which diverts attention from their responsibility for the government shutdown. It's just a political calculus and it's well-played by them, because Steve King is a mostly useless back-bencher anyway.
In reality, they either agree with his statements or they don't care, because the president is on record as agreeing with Steve King. Iowa's governor campaigned for him; Sen. Ernst has appeared with him numerous times, etc. They've just decided he's a political liability they can afford to drop like a bag of dirt.
The Republicans are still the party of Unite the Right, Richard Spencer, the Charlottesville, Charleston and Pittsburgh murderers, and Donald Trump.
74
@Kip, Well said!
2
The entire #MeToo movement has basically involved proxies for Trump being punished while the Grabber in Chief goes on his merry way, so I'm not surprised that we've extended that paradigm to racist members of Congress.
If the GOP didn't need a massive distraction from the fact that the Senate has rolled over and played dead as the shutdown drags on, I'd bet the latest outrageous things to come out of King's mouth would have been ignored by his party colleagues -- just as all the ones before this were.
8
The party that made an art of racial dog whistles is only upset with King because he said out loud what the rest of the part has believed for the past fifty years. Crocodile tears.
24
I'll believe that the Republican Party is resolutely opposed to racism and racist comments by other Republicans when they condemn Pres. Trump's, ""If Elizabeth Warren, often referred to by me as Pocahontas, did this commercial from Bighorn or Wounded Knee instead of her kitchen, with her husband dressed in full Indian garb, it would have been a smash!"
At Wounded Knee US troops massacred 100's of Lakota. So, Republicans, where is your voice?
24
Mr. Bruni, Is political hypocrisy something that you have not experienced in your many years commenting on Washington or is this not practiced by both parties?
1
@Reasoned44
When it comes to race of late, the GOP has the market covered. The GOP has been using racial hostility as one of its primary weapons against Democrats since
LBJ. I have never voted for a Republican because the party ‘s use of race and inherent racism has been apparent for so long. Trump and King are just too obvious. McConnell and Ryan are far more subtle.
The lives destroyed by the GOP’s racial weaponry explains why people of color are still so handicapped economically in this country.
8
@Reasoned44
Conservatives have the hypocrisy market cornered. There is no need to look beyond the GOP for evidence of its use as a policy tool. They are the party trying to save your pre-existing condition language and your Medicare, if you listen to them tell it. If you believe both parties lie like that you just aren't paying attention. Minor, "everyone does is hypocrisies" are a problem of the past, sort of like Chinese currency manipulation and thousands of illegals crossing the southern border. But if that is what you want to believe yesterday's arguments are the battlegrounds we need to fight on now, you join the incompetent conservatives in the house, the senate, and the administration who cannot govern in the fact-based world.
1
Re: "...So now the party abhors bigotry? How convenient..."
When I reflect on the never, wavering support Republicans display for racism, sexism, and homophobia, I'm MUCH reminded of the 1994 Rwandan massacres!
If Republicans wish to lose the 'racist' label...it is REALLY, quiet easy: they need to get RID of their racism; (...and sexism, homophobia, etc.!)
6
You nailed it, Frank. Thank you!!
9
If there is any gambling at Rick's, it's probably because of Sam.
3
The Republicans went berserk over Al Franken's staged photo from a USO Tour that took place many years ago, and they blew it into a major scandal that forced him to resign.
Steve King has a long history of overt racism, fails to see anything wrong with it, yet he receives little more than a slap on the wrist by being removed from committees.
The hypocrisy is astounding and disgraceful.
1030
Here’s the thing: hypocrisy is fine with the Republicans as long as it helps them advance their agenda. To us non-sociopaths, it seems unconscionable; to Republicans, it’s just another play in the playbook.
138
@DGNovelty
Sorry. There is nothing "astounding" about this hypocrisy.
But it is indeed disgraceful.
46
@DGNovelty
It is up to Iowan's to let King know how they feel about him. King and his family should be banned by every restaurant and shop owner with a conscience. Publicly exclude them from parties and functions. Make it clear King and his family are not welcome.
44
Anything Ted Cruz, and everything Ted Cruz says, is utterly suspect and undoubtedly self-serving.
While Steve King is utterly despicable in his racism, at least he is straightforward, unlike most members of his party.
19
Mr. Bruni: Kudos! I have to admit I hadn't thought this man could be used by the GOP as another False Ivan. Look over there! Do Not Look At The president. Among the GOP, scapegoats are becoming heroes. King well and truly deserves to be shown the door. I worked in Des Moines for over 2 years and I never met anyone as racist as this man. Maybe they were just quieter. They were a lot nicer.
Trump is the evil that provides the Kings of the world leave to speak. The GOP fish is rotten at the head. Time for him to go.
50
Racism, bigotry...all tools in the Republican toolkit to rally whatever base they have.
The difficulty now is that the so-called president seems determined to IMPLEMENT his racist policies where before , once elected, whatever promises were kept were done covertly.
Republicans just HATE being exposed for what they are.
16
Agree. King is the sacrificial sheep, an offering to the Gods of TV and talking heads. Not that he doesn’t deserve disgrace and public shaming, but why NOW ??? It’s yet another distraction and blatant PR move. A minor spectacle, signifying nothing.
SAD.
17
"And despite all the pride that they have swallowed since Trump’s ascent and all the principles that they have betrayed, many of them yearn to make a stand or at least a statement against white nationalism, for the sake of their party’s long-term survival and, yes, for the country."
Hogwash. You want to know who yearned to take a stand against white nationalism? MLK, Medgar Evers, Michael Schwerner, Andrew Goodman, and James Chaney, Vernon Dahmer, Jonathan Daniels, and dozens, scores, hundreds, or thousands of other unknown matrys who knew what taking a stand truly required. These poor helpless Republicans who do nothing more than yearn that racism would go away are, as MLK pointed out, a bigger problem than the overt racist.
32
Thank you Frank Bruni. Finally someone says it. And may I ask the GOP one more question while we are at it: If it's so gosh darn bad for a sitting Congressman to say gosh darn racist things, isn't it also a problem that every Republican legislature in the country write laws that prevent Black People and Latino People and other People of Color from voting?? Is cheating in elections using race, isn't that just gosh darn golly gee bad too? Try abhorring that, GOP.
38
Amen. Frank Bruni! When the Republican leaders came out en masse to condemn Steve King I really wondered what kind of epiphany they had experienced.I did not know that they knew the words to express disgust at racist expressions.They were certainly all in when Trump made disparaging remarks about Barrack Obama and his racial background.Mr.King is easy to call out because his comments are so blatant but there are also many insensitive ,abusive and subtle innuendos which are ignored!
13