GOP Rep. Met With Nazi-Linked Group On Trip Funded By Holocaust Memorial Org
Congressman Steve King (R-IA) is under fire for a xenophobic tweet. Image by gettyimages
Rep. Steve King had an interview with members of a far-right Austrian party with Nazi ties, while on a trip funded by a Holocaust memorial group, The Washington Post reported Thursday.
The Iowa Republican also criticized billionaire financier and philanthropist George Soros in his interview, while lamenting that white Europeans will be replaced by immigrants.
“Western civilization is on the decline,” he said on Aug. 24 in an interview with Unzensuriert (“Uncensored”), a website associated with Austria’s far-right Freedom Party.
King had just finished a five-day trip to historical Jewish sites in Poland, including the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp, according to the Post. His trip to Poland, including the flight, was paid for by From the Depths, a nonprofit that educates people about the Holocaust. The extension to Austria was paid for with King’s own money.
The Freedom Party was founded by a former Nazi SS officer and is now led by Heinz-Christian Strache, who embraced the neo-Nazi scene growing up, according to the Post.
Unzensuriert is known for routinely publishing Islamophobic, anti-refugee articles, Huffpost reported. In the interview, King talked about the “Great Replacement” theory, which is often embraced by white nationalists, and expressed his fear that Muslim and Latino immigration will destroy Europe and America.
In his interview, King also accused Soros, who is Jewish, of being behind the Great Replacement and influencing U.S. elections, according to the Post.
“His money floats in in such a way you can’t see the flow,” King said, “but if you trace it back, you can connect it to his foundation.”
On Thursday, King denounced the string of attempted bombs that targeted Soros and other liberal figures, but stood by using it as an opportunity to criticize the megadonor, who has been in at the forefront of far-right conspiracy theories, the Post reported.
King is running for a ninth term in the House, representing Iowa’s largely Republican 4th District. He has frequently been criticized for his overtures to extremists, including endorsing a white nationalist candidate for mayor of Toronto and retweeting a British neo-Nazi.
Alyssa Fisher is a news writer at the Forward. Email her at fisher@forward.com, or follow her on Twitter at @alyssalfisher
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