US congressman from Iowa under fire for racist comments

WASHINGTON: The lone black Republican in the US Senate launched a blistering attack Friday on a fellow Republican congressman who has been accused of making racist comments.

“Some in our party wonder why Republicans are constantly accused of racism — it is because of our silence when things like this are said,” Senator Tim Scott said of the remarks by Representative Steve King of Iowa.

King, in an interview with The New York Times this week, asked how the terms “white nationalist” and “white supremacist” had become offensive to Americans.

“White nationalist, white supremacist, Western civilization — how did that language become offensive?” King said. “Why did I sit in classes teaching me about the merits of our history and our civilization?”

Scott responded to King’s remarks with a column in The Washington Post, and they were also denounced by several other members of the Republican Party.

“Anyone who needs ‘white nationalist’ or ‘white supremacist’ defined, described and defended does lack some pretty common knowledge,” said the senator from South Carolina.

“White nationalists and white supremacists have strewn (havoc) across our nation for hundreds of years,” he said.

“When people with opinions similar to King’s open their mouths, they damage not only the Republican Party and the conservative brand but also our nation as a whole,” Scott said. Kevin McCarthy, leader of the Republican minority in the House of Representatives, also condemned King’s comments.