Almost as soon as Rep. Steve King (R-IA) asked the New York Times why the term "white supremacist" was so offensive, Republican leadership condemned him. One of the first GOP leaders to speak out was House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, who said, "Steve’s language is reckless, wrong, and has no place in our society."
Then, on Monday, McCarthy took the next step of informing King his rhetoric got him removed from all House committees in the 116th Congress.
RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel said now's the time for their political counterparts to take their lead. Why, McDaniel asked, hasn't Speaker Nancy Pelosi demanded Democrats distance themselves from Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan and his anti-Semitism?
.@GOPLeader made the right decision. There’s no place for white supremacy in our country & it’s totally inconsistent with the Republican Party.
— Ronna McDaniel (@GOPChairwoman) January 15, 2019
I hope Nancy Pelosi also takes action against all the Democrats who continue to associate with prominent anti-Semite Louis Farrakhan.
Democrats, she means, like Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN), who has previous ties to Farrakhan, including personal meetings with him. Yet, his office responded to criticism noting that he "has repeatedly disavowed anti-Semitism and bigotry, since his first campaign for Congress in 2006."
The Republican Jewish Coalition has also called on at least seven Democrats to resign over having some point in their careers "embraced" Farrakhan. Those lawmakers included Ellison, along with Barbara Lee, (D-CA), Maxine Waters (D-CA) Danny Davis, (D-Ill), Andre Carson (D-IN), Gregory Meeks (D-NY), and Al Green (D-TX).
Women's March leader Tamika Mallory also refused to denounce Farrakhan's anti-Semitic rhetoric even after pressed repeatedly by Meghan McCain on "The View." Mallory did, however, defend her sentiment that she believes Farrakhan to be "the greatest of all time."
“I didn’t call him the greatest of all time because of his rhetoric, I called him the greatest of all time because of what he’s done in black communities.”
Yet, asked again to condemn his anti-Jewish remarks, Mallory says, "it is not my language, it is not the way that I speak.”
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