Plame endorsed a crudely anti-Semitic article — “America’s Jews Are Driving America’s Wars” published by the far-right Unz Review — in Sept. 2017.

By Algemeiner Staff

Two high-profile candidates in Tuesday’s election primaries who were tainted by racism and anti-Semitism lost their bids to serve in the U.S. Congress.

In Iowa, nine-term Republican congressman Steve King lost his party’s primary to State Sen. Randy Feenstra, while in New Mexico, former CIA operative Valerie Plame was defeated by local attorney Teresa Leger Fernandez in the Democratic race to represent the 3rd congressional district.

Anti-immigration hardliner King already had a reputation for inflammatory comments about race when he exclaimed in a New York Times interview in Jan. 2019, “white nationalist, white supremacist, western civilization — how did that language become offensive?”

Notable past comments by King included his 2006 description of Americans who were murdered by undocumented migrants as a “slow-motion Holocaust,” and his 2009 remark that the Affordable Care Act would threaten birthrates in white communities, resulting in a “dying civilization.”

Among those who welcomed King’s defeat was the Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC).

“Steve King does not represent the Republican Party and it’s time for him to leave Congress,” RJC Executive Director Matt Brooks said in a statement. “We are happy that Randy Feenstra, a strong conservative and a friend of Israel, will be our party’s candidate for Congress in Iowa’s 4th district seat this year.”

Meanwhile, Democratic contender Plame lost the New Mexico Democratic primary to Fernandez amid a television advertising campaign that reminded voters of her endorsement of a crudely anti-Semitic article — “America’s Jews Are Driving America’s Wars” published by the far-right Unz Review — in Sept. 2017.

The article, by Holocaust denier Philip Giraldi, opined that American Jews who appeared on television should be marked appropriately — “kind-of-like a warning label on a bottle of rat poison.”

Initially, Plame vigorously defended her promotion of Giraldi’s article on her Twitter feed, telling critics, “Many neocon hawks ARE Jewish.” She later apologized, claiming that she had “missed gross undercurrents to this article.”

The Alliance to Combat Extremism Fund (ACE), which sponsored the ad campaign highlighting Plame’s anti-Semitic associations, praised Democratic primary voters in New Mexico for rejecting her.

“New Mexicans sent a clear message tonight: hate has no place in our politics,” ACE Fund President Ian Sugar said in a statement. “While others ignored the issue, we made sure that Valerie Plame‘s long record of spreading anti-Semitic hate and white supremacist propaganda was exposed.”

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Rep. Steve King insists that he was misunderstood and was not defending white supremacy. 

By David Jablinowitz, World Israel News

House Republican leaders removed one of their own, Representative Steve King of Iowa, from the Judiciary and Agriculture Committees on Monday night in the wake of bipartisan condemnation of King’s recent remarks on white supremacy and white nationalism.

In an interview with the New York Times published last week, King said: “White nationalist, white supremacist, Western civilization — how did that language become offensive?”

The congressman has been censured before for making racist comments and insulting immigrants, but this time, Republicans have joined Democrats in widely criticizing him.

Speaking to reporters on Monday night after the House Republican leadership team acted, Representative Kevin McCarthy of California, the minority leader, said he was not ruling out supporting a censure or reprimand resolution against King. He said the Republicans are not removing King from the G.O.P. House conference itself, so he can still attend the party meetings.

McCarthy said that it would be up to the voters in Iowa to decide whether King should stay in office.

McCarthy, who met privately with King for an hour before the move by House Republican leaders, did not explain why the most recent comments were a breaking point, considering King’s record of similar remarks. “Maybe I did not see those, but I disagree with these,” McCarthy said.

The full Republican conference must still technically ratify the leader’s decision, but McCarthy presented the matter as final.

In a statement, King countered that his comments were misunderstood. He claimed that when he asked “how did that language become offensive,” he was referring to the term “Western civilization” and not “white nationalist” or “white supremacist.” He pledged to continue to “point out the truth” and serve his district for “at least the next two years,” in other words, until the completion of this term.

President Donald Trump was asked by reporters on Monday about King’s comments and replied, “I haven’t been following it.”

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Congressman Steve King calls for an investigation of former President Barack Obama’s funding of an Israeli left-wing opposition party’s campaign against Prime Minister Netanyahu in the most recent Israeli elections, in addition to recommending a closer look at scandals involving George Soros, Anthony Weiner and others.

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