Congressman Steve King (R-IA) is under fire for a xenophobic tweet. Image by gettyimages

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.”

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