Joshua Roberts/Reuters
Republican Rep. Steve King has often come under fire for making racially charged remarks.
- Land O'Lakes has withdrawn support for Republican Rep. Steve King after calls for a boycott of its dairy products over a political donation it made to the congressman.
- King has often come under fire for racially charged remarks and support for white nationalist viewpoints.
- Most recently, King has been criticized for defending his ties to a Nazi-linked group in Austria.
Land O'Lakes has withdrawn support for Republican Rep. Steve King after calls for a boycott of its dairy products over a political donation it made to the congressman.
"The Land O'Lakes, Inc. PAC has traditionally contributed to lawmakers of both parties that represent the communities where our members and employees live and work and are also on committees that oversee policies that directly impact our farmer owners," the company said in a statement.
"We take our civic responsibility seriously, want our contributions to be a positive force for good and also seek to ensure that recipients of our contributions uphold our company's values," the company added, saying that "on that basis" it's no longer supporting King "moving forward."
This came after calls for a boycott of the company in relation to its support for King went viral on social media.
King has often come under fire for racially charged remarks and support for white nationalist viewpoints.
The Iowa Republican once tweeted, for example, that "diversity is not our strength." Not long before that, King tweeted that "we can't restore our civilization with somebody else's babies."
More recently, King has been criticized for defending his ties to a Nazi-linked group in Austria, the Austria Freedom Party.
In a recent interview with The Washington Post, King said the Austria Freedom Party "would be Republicans" if they were in the US. The interview was published shortly after a massacre at a Pittsburgh synagogue, which marked the deadliest attack on Jews in US history.
This is appalling: "For his 2018 campaign, King has received contributions from AT&T ($5,000), Berkshire Hathaway ($2,500), the American Bankers Association ($9,000), Land O'Lakes ($2,500), Intel ($2,000), and many others." https://t.co/aB6JywWOSC
- Soledad O'Brien (@soledadobrien) October 29, 2018