Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Breaking News

Ben Shapiro — And David Duke — Defend Steve King’s ‘Babies’ Comment

Conservative Jewish commentator and former Breitbart editor Ben Shapiro defended Iowa Congressman Steve King Monday after he tweeted a xenophobic comment embraced by white supremacists.

Rep. Steve King (R-IA) wrote Sunday, “We can’t restore our civilization with somebody else’s babies.”

Shapiro said he did not see the tweet as overtly racist. “The racist way of reading it is ‘babies from abroad suck,’” he told the Forward. “The not racist way of reading is saying ‘babies from abroad are a problem if their parents do not assimilate.”

On his site The Daily Wire, Shapiro noted the second interpretation is “an argument that’s been made by European politicians ranging from David Cameron to Angela Merkel.”

Iowa GOP chief Jeff Kaufmann condemned King’s tweet Monday, saying “We are a nation of immigrants, and diversity is the strength of any nation.”

Richard Spencer, leader of the contemporary white nationalist movement the “alt-right” said King’s words were “controversial precisely because they are true.”

Former Ku Klux Klan Grand Wizard David Duke wrote, “GOD BLESS STEVE KING!!!”

King stuck to his comments Monday on CNN. Asked whether he regards as equals babies from assimilated Muslims, Italians, Christians or Jews in America, King paused, then answered, “They contribute differently to our culture and civilization.” He also said he would “like to see an America that’s just so homogenous that we look a lot the same.”

Shapiro said this comment proves that King is no white supremacist.

“He wants everyone to intermarry,” Shapiro told the Forward. “I want to see evidence of racism before we jump to conclusions because David Duke likes him.”

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse..

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.