In reaction to a report by the Huffington Post‘s Christopher Mathias explaining how Congressman Steve King’s government website continues to link to the white nationalist website VDare, Ohio Democrat Tim Ryan alerted the House Ethics Committee about the matter.
Until recently, the website featured a YouTube video (embedded above) of King speaking in favor of a resolution from South Carolina Democrat Jim Clyburn titled “Rejecting White nationalism and White supremacy,” which he introduced after King was quoted in the New York Times asking, “White nationalist, white supremacist, Western civilization — how did that language become offensive?” King voted for the resolution, claiming white supremacy was an “evil ideology” that “never shows up in my head.”
Yet below the video (which is now one of his town hall in Primghar) there is a section of the site with the headline “Illegal Immigration Stories.” The section includes links to VDare, “a hate site named after Virginia Dare, said to be the first white baby born in the ‘New World,'” as Mathias explained. “It has routinely featured the writing of eugenicists, anti-Semites and Nazi sympathizers, including prominent white supremacists Richard Spencer, Kevin MacDonald, Sam Francis and Jared Taylor.”
Ryan sent a letter to the House Ethics Committee on Tuesday, saying he wanted to “make the Committee aware of the continued use of government resources on the part of Rep. King to promote and advance white nationalism.” The letter, addressed to committee chairman Ted Deutch, a Florida Democrat, and ranking Republican Kenny Marchant of Texas, adds, “Rep. King’s behavior brings shame on the House of Representatives as a representative institution.”
On Jan. 15, House members (including King) voted 424-1 to approve Clyburn’s resolution. The only no vote came from Bobby Rush, an Illinois Democrat, who supports formally censuring King. Ryan also believes that it didn’t go far enough. After the vote, the three lawmakers met to discuss censure, which Clyburn had suggested might be taking things too far.
Other “illegal immigrant stories” on King’s website include links to websites known for their promotion of conspiracy theories or alt-right ideology, including Breitbart, The Daily Caller, WorldNetDaily, and The Gateway Pundit.
