A Republican House candidate in Missouri lost a key endorsement - his own children
- The children of Steve West, a Republican running for a House seat in Missouri, don't want Missourians to vote for their dad.
- The children claim that West is unfit for public office, citing previous "racist" and "homophobic" remarks.
- West won the state's Republican primaries in August by nearly 25 points.
Steve West, the Republican candidate vying for a House seat in his state's 15th Congressional District, lost the support of two of this three adult children, who are urging Missourians not to vote for their father.
Emily and Adam West pointed to what they called their father's "racist" and "homophobic" views, The Kansas City Star reported Tuesday.
West is best known throughout the state as a right-wing political commentator on his radio show, YouTube channel, and website.
"I can't imagine him being in any level of government," West's daughter, Emily, told The Star on Monday. "He's made multiple comments that are racist and homophobic and how he doesn't like the Jews."
West's son, Andy, backed up his sister's assertion on Tuesday, telling The Star that "his ideology is pure hate."
After West claimed a decisive victory during the state's Republican primaries in August, The Star put together a list of what it said were several bigoted remarks West has discussed on his shows.
"Looking back in history, unfortunately, Hitler was right about what was taking place in Germany. And who was behind it," West said on a show on KCXL radio on Jan. 23, 2017, according to The Star.
West has used his platform to make troubling remarks about the LGBTQ community, claiming that homosexuality and pedophilia were "absolutely linked," and calling women's athletics a "haven and breeding ground for lesbianism," NBC News reported on Wednesday.
West denied his children's' accusations in an interview with NBC News on Wednesday.
"I'm not anti-Semitic," West said. "I have no racism at all, and I'm not a homophobic."
West said that he has had a strained relationship with his three kids since his "extremely toxic divorce."
But West is not the only candidate who has had family members urge voters not to support ahead of the November midterm elections. Six siblings of Arizona Republican representative Paul Gosar threw their support behind his Democratic opponent, David Brill, in September.