On Tuesday, Congress finally took a brave stand against open white supremacist Republican Iowa Rep. Steve King, by....backing a resolution against racism that was so vaguely worded that even King voted for it. Way to show him!
Republicans stripped King of his committee assignments—the least they could do, really—after he told the New York Times that he didn’t understand why terms like “white supremacist” were bad. But this was a chance for the full Congress to condemn him. And it really feels like they missed that chance.
The text of the resolution is lengthy, but the part that representatives were actually voting to endorse reads as follows:
That the House of Representatives once again rejects White nationalism and White supremacy as hateful expressions of intolerance that are contradictory to the values that define the people of the United States.
The overall text of the resolution does mention King, and notes his now-infamous comments to the New York Times, in which he wondered aloud when terms like “white supremacist” became offensive, but that’s it. The main part of the resolution does not refer to him in any way.
Perhaps that’s why King himself was comfortable enough with the text to vote for the resolution himself:
Just a thought, but when you have a fascist in office, and you are trying to register your disapproval of said fascist, maybe it’s better to draft some language the aforementioned fascist doesn’t feel cool with personally endorsing?
One person, at least, was fed up with this turn of events:
OK, now we’re talking! But wait:
Yes, heaven forbid the LITERAL WHITE SUPREMACIST is not happy with you! Congress never misses a chance to be both useless and hopeless.