On Tuesday, Republican Congressman Steve Stivers from Ohio’s 15th District tweeted out a rebuke of a fellow GOP House member, and it did a little more than just make waves on social media. You see, Rep. Stivers is the chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee — the group in charge of making sure the Republicans get elected in the midterm elections. You’ve seen “NRCC” in all of the ads so far this election season that have made you want to throw your shoe at the television, and Stivers’ group is responsible for those.
But no matter how many dirty attacks the NRCC sends out, it seems that the messages of his fellow Congressman Steve King just two states away in Iowa are a bridge too far for the campaign committee.
Since the brutal massacre of eleven Jewish worshipers at a temple in Pittsburgh on Saturday, all eyes have been on those who would continue to promote racist or anti-Semitic views, and that means Steve King. For years he has espoused views that most would consider just this side of straight up Nazi rhetoric. But although King has been at it for an uncomfortably long time, that doesn’t mean he doesn’t keep up his reputation. He’s recently met with an Austrian political party with ties to Nazis, endorsed an open white supremacist for mayor of Toronto, and of course, he keeps tweeting:
Europe is waking up…Will America…in time? https://t.co/GqZ3E1lCyh
— Steve King (@SteveKingIA) June 12, 2018
That’s a retweet of a post by Mark Collett, a British white nationalist who once appeared in a documentary called Young, Nazi, and Proud centered around Collett’s admiration for Adolf Hitler and his belief that AIDS is a disease for “blacks, drug users and gays.”
Why was I able to embed that tweet? Because Rep. King, after being told that the man he claims he “mistakenly” retweeted was a Nazi, refused to take the tweet down. Because it is what he also believes.
But over the last week, King has come under increased scrutiny and prominent social media activists have called on companies who have donated to King to withdraw their support. To their credit, quite a few have. Purina, Intel, and Land O’Lakes have all pulled support as of today, and more are expected to do so.
So what will Stivers’ tweet mean for Rep. King? Will he be stripped of his committee appointments? Will fellow Republicans in the House agree to refuse to seat him in the next Congress, should he win the reelection campaign he’s currently running?
Congressman Steve King’s recent comments, actions, and retweets are completely inappropriate. We must stand up against white supremacy and hate in all forms, and I strongly condemn this behavior.
— Steve Stivers (@RepSteveStivers) October 30, 2018
That’s promising. Let’s hope Congressman Stivers makes sure that not one more cent goes from the NRCC to King’s campaign.
Featured image via screen capture
