We were being totally serious when we decided to dub the Republican National Convention the “Republican Nativist Convention” — and Steve King just confirmed it really is that.
During an MSNBC panel on live television yesterday, the calves connoisseur basically questioned the contributions of non-white people to civilization, saying that white people have contributed more than any “subgroup of people.”
The comment came as the group was debating the chaotic opening day of the Republican Nativist Convention, with the Congressman’s comment leaving his fellow panelists — including a woman of color — stunned.
“If you’re really optimistic, you can say that this is the last time that old white people will command the Republican Party’s attention, its platform, and its public face,” [Esquire writer Charlie] Pierce said. “Of course, I thought this was going to happen after 2012, but thanks for the good work of Congressman King, I was disappointed . . . But I’ll tell you what, in that hall today, that hall is wired. It’s wired by unhappy, dissatisfied white people.”
“This whole ‘white people’ business does get a little tired, Charlie,” King said. “I’d ask you to go back through history and figure out, where have these contributions been made by these other categories of people that you’re talking about. Where did any other subgroup of people contribute more to civilization?”
“Than white people?” host Chris Hayes asked.
“Than—than Western civilization itself, that’s rooted in Western Europe, Eastern Europe, and the United States of America, and every place where the footprint of Christianity settled the world,” King said. “That’s all of Western civilization.”
At that point, the panel erupted in chaos, and Hayes pleaded for calm. “We are not going to debate Western civilization,” he said.
Calls and e-mails to King’s office were not immediately returned.
We’ve previously written about white nationalists and white supremacists feeling reinvigorated by Donald Trump’s campaign, and the flood of racist rhetoric both on and off-line are proof positive of that. No wonder Steve King feels right at home at Trump’s convention.
Watch the video below.
