Rep. Steve King owes MSNBC’s Chris Hayes a huge debt for switching tracks during a live conversation about race before it could go even further off the rails Monday.
King was taking part in a panel discussing the overabundance of white people at the top of the Republican party, of which King is a member, representing his overwhelmingly white district in Iowa.
“If you’re really optimistic,” said Esquire’s Charles Pierce — who is white — “you can say that this is the last time that old white people will command the Republican party’s attention, its platform, its public face,”
The point, King told the host, was that in terms of racial balance, things are as they should be.
Never Miss a Beat
Subscribe to our newsletter to stay ahead of the latest LGBTQ+ political news and insights.
“This ‘old white people’ business does get a little tired, Charlie,” King said. “I’d ask you to go back through history and figure out where these contributions that have been made by these categories of people that you’re talking about—where did any other sub-group of people contribute more to civilization?”
“Than white people?” asked Hayes, clearly stunned by the bold-faced remark.
“Than, than Western civilization itself,” King responded. “It’s rooted in Western Europe, Eastern Europe and the United States of America and every place where the footprint of Christianity settled the world. That’s all of Western civilization.”
Hayes opted to cut off the conversation: “We’re not going to argue the history of Western civilization. Let me note for the record that if you’re looking at the ledger of Western civilization, for every flourishing democracy, you have Hitler and Stalin as well.”
But later he tweeted his regrets:
2. The entire notion of debating which race/civilization/ "sub group" contributed most or is best is as odious as it is preposterous.
— Chris Hayes (@chrislhayes) July 18, 2016
3. Which is why I said "we're not debating this here." But I hear people who think I made the wrong call in the moment. Maybe I did.
— Chris Hayes (@chrislhayes) July 18, 2016
Hayes closed the book on the matter but the rest of Twitter wasn’t even close to turning the page.
This man is in politics??? I don't even know where to begin. I'm absolutely blown away. https://t.co/XbviHKBEKY
— Chris Evans (@ChrisEvans) July 19, 2016
Remember earlier today when @SteveKingIA said Blacks didn't contribute to society? If we don't contribute then why steal our speeches?
— Marcus H. Johnson (@marcushjohnson) July 19, 2016
https://twitter.com/ShaunKing/status/755193346587435008
the fact that steve king referred to everything outside of western civilization as a "sub-group" pretty much says it all.
— sarah amy harvard (@amyharvard_) July 19, 2016