Why is the GOP Just Discovering Steve King’s Racism?

FEATURING CRISTINA LOPEZ – The GOP has stripped long-time Republican Congressman Steve King of his leadership role in the House Judiciary and Agriculture committees. The drastic action came in the wake of comments that King had made in a New York Times interview last week where he said, “White nationalist, white supremacist, Western civilization — how did that language become offensive?” He later said he was a “nationalist” and defended “western civilization’s values,” but that he was not a backer of “white nationalist and white supremacist” ideas.

But it is strange that the GOP is only now discovering King’s racism. The Times explained that King, “helped write the book on white identity politics that are ascendant in Mr. Trump’s Republican Party,” and King himself boasted, “Yes, Mr. President… I market-tested your immigration policy for 14 years, and that ought to be worth something.” King has been elected 9 times in his Iowa district.

Cristina Lopez, Deputy Director of Extremism at Media Matters.