When it comes to white nationalism, Rep. Steve King (R-IA) has a long list of zingers he can point to.
He’s retweeted British neo-Nazi Mark Collett and steadfastly refused to apologize for it, been endorsed by the Daily Stormer, made frequent trips to visit the far-right government of Austria, and, perhaps most infamously, quipped that “we can’t restore our civilization with someone else’s babies.”
On Tuesday night, King further added to his laundry list of white nationalist talking points by endorsing fringe far-right candidate Faith Goldy in her attempt to become mayor of Toronto. “Faith Goldy, [is] an excellent candidate for Toronto mayor, pro Rule of Law, pro Make Canada Safe Again, pro balanced budget,” King tweeted. “BEST of all, Pro Western Civilization and a fighter for our values.”
For the uninitiated, Faith Goldy is a former reporter for the right-wing site Rebel Media, whose roster of current and former employees includes luminaries like Proud Boys’ founder Gavin McInnes, bankrupt British columnist Katie Hopkins, and former Trump adviser Sebastian Gorka. Goldy is currently polling around 2 percent in her quest to become Toronto’s mayor.
Goldy is a full-blown white supremacist, or “ethno-nationalist” as she’d likely prefer to be called. As Right Wing Watch has noted, Goldy last December went on YouTube to recite the fourteen words, one of the world’s most popular white supremacist slogans, which was originally created by far-right terrorist David Lane. Goldy has also appeared on the Daily Stormer’s podcast and previously recommended a book calling for the “elimination” of Jews.
It’s perhaps unsurprising then that she’s currently polling so abysmally in a city that is one of the most diverse in the world, and that has also become a multicultural nerve center for hip-hop and R&B music. Goldy, however, has offered the convenient excuse of saying that the entire Toronto mayoral election is rigged.
King is currently in the middle of a re-election with Democratic candidate J.D. Scholten. Scholten has repeatedly out-raised King, and some of King’s own supporters in his historically deep-red district told ThinkProgress that they are growing increasingly tired of his belligerent rhetoric. The Des Moines register recently angered King by endorsing all Democratic electoral candidates for Iowa congressional districts, including Scholten.
“This one’s a no-brainer for any Iowan who has cringed at eight-term incumbent King’s increasing obsession with being a cultural provocateur,” the Des Moines Register’s endorsement read. “In his almost 16 years in Congress, King has passed exactly one bill as primary sponsor, redesignating a post office.”