Joni Ernst Says Fellow Iowan Steve King’s Words Are ‘Offensive And Racist’

Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) added to the number of Republican colleagues condemning Rep. Steve King’s (R-IA) white supremacy comments in a Saturday morning tweet.

“They are offensive and racist — and not representative of our state of Iowa,” Ernst tweeted.

I condemn Rep. Steve King’s comments on white supremacy; they are offensive and racist – and not representative of our state of Iowa. We are a great nation and this divisiveness is hurting everyone. We cannot continue down this path if we want to continue to be a great nation.

— Joni Ernst (@SenJoniErnst) January 12, 2019

King told the New York Times that he doesn’t understand when language including “white nationalist” and “white supremacist” became offensive. He also told the Times that immigrant assimilation is more important than race since the “culture of America” is “based on values brought to the United States by whites from Europe.”

During a speech from the House floor on Friday, King claimed the quote was taken out of context of the broader conversation he said he was having when he made the “freshman mistake” of taking a call from a Times reporter.