Representative Steve King from Iowa has been removed from House committees he is on after comments on White Supremacy over the weekend by Republican leaders. King asked reporters when the terms “White Supremacy” and and “White Nationalist” became offensive language. The answer is obviously always.

As an Iowan, I am extremely embarrassed to be represented by someone like King.

King, who has been an ally to President Donald Trump on the border wall as well as other far right projects, has a long history of racist remarks.

In 2016, King challenged reporters to look through history and find a time a subgroup of people contributed more to society than white people. How he survived this quote I will never understand. Notable Republicans have spoken out against King after these most recent comments. Senate Majority leader Mitch Mcconnell said King should find a new line of work. McConnell must have forgot about his ties to White Supremacy. Other Iowa congressmen and women have spoken out against King.

Senator Joni Ernst posted on Twitter that she condemns King’s comments and they don’t represent the state of Iowa. I have a ton of respect for Joni Ernst. She served in the military with my dad, and I do believe she is trying to help the state of Iowa, but we don’t need you to condemn these comments now. Why didn’t you and other Republicans make a stand before now? King has been making statements like this for over two decades and Republicans still endorsed him. Ernst as well as Chuck Grassley, fully endorsed King before the midterm elections. If those comments didn’t represent Iowa why did you endorse King?

The district King represents in Iowa is historically Republican. In the 2018 midterm elections, King just barely beat Democratic challenger J.D. Scholten with 50% of the vote while Scholten received 47% of the vote. This is the closest the elections for the 4th district of Iowa have ever been, and there is a reason for that. King has only fallen under 60% of the vote one other time besides 2018. Those voting in this district know what kind of person King is and what he represents and have chosen to speak out and vote for someone else.

King barely kept his seat, in large part, thanks to the endorsements from other prominent Iowa Republicans. The party is more important to them than the good of Iowa or the country. The only reason Republicans have finally taken a stand against King after 20 years, is because he almost lost his election. They have proven as much. What King said compared to what he has said in the past is tame.

Yes I am happy he is being removed from committees and hopefully this leads to his resignation so we can wipe this stain off of Iowa, but this might be the most hypocritical thing the Republicans could have done. They have called out racism and said it has no place in their party, but what about the rest of the Republicans who have ties to racism and white supremacy? Or what about all of the racist policies Republicans have pursued over the years and in the two short years Trump has been president? The Muslim ban, the border wall or the tax cut that has already shown it is only for the top 1% of our country that in predominantly white, while at the same time looking to cut Medicare and Social Security.

The Republican party has deep roots in racism. If you don’t think so you are not paying attention. The silence from Republicans for the past 20 years of King, and all the times they stayed silent when Trump showed his racism speaks a thousand words. Trump called Nazi’s who killed a liberal protester and beat many other African American protesters, “fine people.” Trump shut the government down because he couldn’t get funding from the Republican-led congress for his racist symbol of a wall at the southern border. Trump took a dig on Twitter at 2020 presidential hopeful Elizabeth Warren after she posted an Instagram video talking about 2020.

“If Elizabeth Warren, often referred to by me as Pocahontas, did this commercial from Bighorn or Wounded Knee instead of her kitchen, with her husband dressed in full Indian garb, it would of been a smash,” Trump posted on Twitter.

Not only is the reference to Pocahontas racist enough, but the reference to Wounded Knee for a joke is insane from an American President. Hundreds of unarmed Native Americans were massacred at the direction of the American Government.

Racism is deep in the Republican party, and in my opinion they will never rid themselves of it. Your policies and inability to call out racism if it doesn’t have a benefit for you speaks volumes. The same goes for the everyday Republican. If you sit and listen to the racism coming from the leaders of your party and not speak out, you are part of the problem. I’m not saying you have to leave the Republican party, but to sit silently and let racism take over your party is not the answer.

If you truly wanted to rid the Republican party of racism it starts from the top. Our president is an open racist and has proven it time and time again. America deserves to be represented by more.