/Steve King questions if humanity would exist without rape or incest

Steve King questions if humanity would exist without rape or incest

Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, questioned Wednesday whether humanity would exist if not for the rapes and incest that happened throughout history.

“What if we went back through all the family trees and just pulled those people out that were products of rape and incest?” he said at a speech in Urbandale, Iowa. “Would there be any population of the world left if we did that? Considering all the wars and all the rape and pillage that has taken place? And whatever happened to culture after society, I know that I can’t certify that that I am not a part of the product of that.”

He also noted that “it’s not the baby’s fault” if a rape or incest occurred.

King was speaking in defense of an anti-abortion bill he sought to pass in Congress that would not allow for exceptions for pregnancies that were the result of rape or incest. The congressman’s remarks to the Westside Conservative Club near Des Moines were first reported by The Des Moines Register.

According to the newspaper, King touched on another recent controversy — this one involving the blowback he faced over a January New York Times quote on white nationalism and white supremacy. King was quoted as saying “white nationalist, white supremacist, Western civilization — how did that language become offensive?”

King on Wednesday claimed political insiders told him there was a plot to get him out of office, including having President Donald Trump criticize him. But King said he met with Trump and there was “no signal from Donald Trump that he’s anything other than supportive of me.”

The January comments led to multiple high-level Republicans denouncing his remarks and him being stripped of his committee assignments. Soon after, the House formally condemned white nationalism and white supremacy.

His comments Wednesday drew backlash from a slew of prominent Democrats, including many of the 2020 presidential candidates. Sen. Kristen Gillibrand, D-N.Y., Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., called on King to resign.

Other presidential candidates, including Washington Gov. Jay Inslee and Former Rep. Beto O’Rourke, D-Texas, encouraged voters to donate to King’s Democratic challenger, J.D. Scholten. Scholten accused King of “excusing violence” and said that “his comments are disrespectful to survivors and don’t reflect Iowan values.

South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg told MSNBC that King’s remarks were “extremely disturbing.”

“I would think anybody who had said something that extreme would resign,” he said. “But then again, I doubt that he’ll actually do it. So we’re just going to have to beat him the old-fashioned way.”

King’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from NBC News.

Josh Lederman, Alex Moe and Maura Barrett contributed.

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