Iowa’s Steve King, noted white supremacist and human boil on the butt of humanity, lost his primary race Tuesday night, trailing challenger state Sen. Randy Feenstra by nearly double digits with 100% of precincts reporting. While Feenstra is certainly no walk in the park himself (which makes Democratic challenger J.D. Scholten’s race more important than ever to support), King was a unique brand of hateful asshole-ness who publicly reveled in making the lives of immigrants as hellish as possible.
In one example from a nearly two-decade-long House career where he accomplished nothing of major legislative significance, that asshole-ness included toasting the deportation of Juan Manuel Montes, a Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipient who was unlawfully deported at the start of the Trump administration. The 23-year-old, who had lived here since he was 9, was kicked out without so much as a chance to say goodbye to his family. “Border Patrol, this one's for you,” King cheered, tweeting a picture of a mug of beer. Following King’s loss last night, advocates marked King getting kicked out of Congress.
“I’m so glad to see you go,” RAICES chief of advocacy Erika Andiola wrote, tweeting video of a confrontation she had with King in 2014. “Handing him her DACA card, Erika said, ‘I know you want to get rid of DACA. I want to give you the opportunity, if you really want to get rid of it, just rip mine. You can go ahead and do that,’” immigrant rights advocacy group America’s Voice wrote at the time. “King refused, saying that he did not comment about personal cases.” During the tense confrontation, King grabbed Andiola’s wrist and condescendingly commented: “You’re very good at English,” to which Andiola was quick to snap back: “I was raised in the United States.”
Gabriela Domenzain, a senior adviser for Brooklyn Defender Services, tweeted: “I hated having to know about Steve King’s existence [...] I hated having to be the one to bring him up, I hated that I had to regurgitate his xenophobic vomit so others might understand what it meant that this white nationalist was still in office all. the. time.” Domenzain noted one pained instance when she had to listen to King’s verbal “vomit” as she sat next to undocumented youth in the House gallery during a DREAM Act debate in 2010. King was “cannibalizing my friends in their government’s official buildings before their own eyes and hearts,” she said. While the chamber did pass the legislation despite King’s objections, it would eventually die in the Senate.
King made attacking DACA recipients his cause célèbre, pushing despicable votes to defund the popular and successful program and deport hundreds of thousands of young immigrants who have known only the U.S. as home. “To hear the person who has railed against and vilified people like me for decades will lose his platform is nothing short of ecstatic bliss,” tweeted DACA recipient and advocate Tony Choi. “It's nowhere close to liberation, but I'm crying tears of joy.” Cristina Jiménez, cofounder of immigrant youth-led organization United We Dream, tweeted: “Steve King is defeated in primary race. Adios Racist King!”
Latino Victory didn’t mince any words, tweeting: “Steve King is an avowed racist, misogynist, and rape apologist who has compared immigrants to dogs. Don't let the door hit you on the way out, pinche racista.” Neither did Congressional Hispanic Caucus chair Joaquin Castro, who wrote: “The KKK lost a seat in Congress tonight.”
Jeff Singer of Daily Kos Elections wrote that “King’s downfall came over a year after House GOP leaders voted to strip him of his committee assignments after he defended white supremacy in an instantly notorious interview with the New York Times. King, who had been a weak fundraiser for years, immediately rendered himself toxic to influential donors, allowing Feenstra to outspend him decisively.” Scholten still faces a tough race against Feenstra, so the work here is in no way finished—nor does King’s defeat absolve the Republican Party of its racism. Not even close, said America’s Voice leader Frank Sharry. “While the tumor of King has been removed, the cancer of his worldview and politics has metastasized and spread throughout the Republican Party.”
But his defeat is a win for decency nonetheless, an end to a unique brand of vileness that won’t be missed within the chambers of Congress. “Adios, Steve King,” Sharry continued. “We look forward to saying the same to Trump and his many enablers come November."