'Unrepentant racist' and 'bulls---': Both Republicans and Democrats lawmakers condemn the idea of reinstating Steve King after racist comments

• Republican Rep. Steve King of Iowa, whose controversial remarks stripped him of his congressional committee assignments last year, claimed he was being considered to have them reinstated.
• "I have Kevin McCarthy's word that that will be my time for exoneration," he said in the The Sioux City Journal, referring to the House Minority Leader.
• The possibility was condemned by House lawmakers, including Republicans who sat on the committee that decides on the lawmakers's placements.
• "It's bulls---. We have not discussed this at steering," one unnamed lawmaker said to The Hill.
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Rep. Steve King of Iowa, a Republican who was condemned by a bipartisan group of colleagues for his controversial remarks, said he was being considered by House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California to have his committee assignments reinstated.

"On April 20, Kevin McCarthy and I reached an agreement that he would advocate to the Steering Committee to put all of my committees back, all of my seniority," King said at an election debate on Monday, according to The Sioux City Journal, which first reported on his comment.

"I have Kevin McCarthy's word that that will be my time for exoneration," he reportedly added.

The possibility was condemned by House lawmakers, including Republicans who sit on the Steering Committee, which decides on the lawmakers' committee placements.

"It's bulls---. We have not discussed this at steering," an unnamed Steering Committee lawmaker said in The Hill.

"As long as I am a member of the Steering Committee, I will not allow that type of person or that type of ideology to influence the legislation passed by Congress," Republican Rep. Steve Stivers of Ohio said in the caption of an Instagram picture that said, "STAND AGAINST RACISM."

"He will not be serving on any committee," Stivers added. "Steve King does more to hurt Republican and conservative causes than help."

Democratic Rep. Judy Chu of California said in a tweet that "nothing has changed."

"Steve King is an unrepentant racist," Chu tweeted. "The GOP was right to try to exclude him. Giving him more power now just says they're okay with it."

Sources familiar with the situation said McCarthy only agreed for King to plead his case for the restoration of his committees, according to a Politico report. If allowed back, the earliest he would be serving on his old committees would be January 2021.

King was stripped of his committee assignments in January 2019, following his remarks in which he questioned how "white supremacist" or "white nationalist" language became offensive in US society.

"White nationalist, white supremacist, Western civilization — how did that language become offensive," King said, according to a New York Times report in January. "Why did I sit in classes teaching me about the merits of our history and our civilization?"

King later walked back his comment and described himself as a nationalist and that he did not condone "white nationalism and white supremacy."

"The New York Times is suggesting that I am an advocate for white nationalism and white supremacy," King said in his statement. "I want to make one thing abundantly clear; I reject those labels and the evil ideology that they define."

King, has a documented history of making controversial remarks about race. In 2013, he claimed in a speech that for every valedictorian who was raised in the US after entering the country illegally, "there's another 100 out there that weigh 130 pounds and they've got calves the size of cantaloupes because they're hauling 75 pounds of marijuana across the desert."

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