GOP Rep Accused of White Nationalism After Tweet

GOP Rep. Steve King, who recently courted controversy by trying to keep Harriet Tubman off the $20 bill, found himself at the center of new outrage Sunday when he brought Twitter "to a screeching halt" with what the BBC calls an "inflammatory" post complimenting far-right Dutch politician Geert Wilders. "Wilders understands that culture and demographics are our destiny. We can't restore our civilization with somebody else's babies," King tweeted about Wilders, known for his anti-Islamic and nationalistic rhetoric, along with a retweet from an anti-EU account also praising Wilders. King's tweet was widely believed to reference his support for nixing birth citizenship, including changing how the 14th Amendment is interpreted so US-born kids of illegal immigrants aren't automatically deemed citizens.

King's tweet was met with accusations of white nationalism, helped along by a tweet from David Duke that read, "GOD BLESS STEVE KING!!! #TruthRising." Those jumping to condemn King's tweet included Chelsea Clinton, conservative Utah Rep. Evan McMullin, and California Rep. Ted Lieu, who the New York Times notes was born in Taiwan and who tweeted a photo of his two sons with the statement: "Dear Representative Steve King: These are my two babies." Per the Hill, Iowa GOP Chair Jeff Kaufmann also blasted King, praising the US as "a nation of immigrants" and calling diversity "the strength of any nation." Kaufmann also told Duke to stay away from Iowa, calling his take on the subject "absolute garbage." A few hours after his Wilders tweet, King moved on, retweeting a National Review tweet asking who thinks the Muslim Brotherhood is a terrorist group. (More Steve King stories.)