Ana Navarro: Steve King ‘so damn gross’

GOP strategist Ana Navarro on Monday blasted Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa), arguing his controversial tweet the day before is the latest in a line of inflammatory remarks.

I ❤ @ChrisCuomo, but cannot stand watching racist Steve King early in the AM, or any time of day. An embarassment to the GOP and human race.

— Ana Navarro (@ananavarro) March 13, 2017

Glad to see GOP voices like my friends, @RepCurbelo and @RosLehtinen, stand-up against Steve King’s stupidity & racism. He’s so damn gross.

— Ana Navarro (@ananavarro) March 13, 2017

Steve King’s only call to fame’s saying offensive, divisive things. Failed legislator. Hasn’t done much else of note in 14 yrs in Congress. https://t.co/B749zmRaMC

— Ana Navarro (@ananavarro) March 13, 2017

{mosads}King tweeted a contentious message Sunday with a cartoon depicting far-right Dutch politician Geert Wilders plugging a hole in a wall labeled “Western Civilization.” The image shows bearded protesters behind the wall holding signs that say “Infidels, Know Your Limits” and “Freedom of Speech Can Go to Hell.”

“Wilders understands that culture and demographics are our destiny,” King wrote of the illustration. “We can’t restore our civilization with somebody else’s babies.” 

Democrats quickly cast King’s post as racist, leading the Iowa lawmaker to defend his comments during a Monday morning appearance on CNN.

“Well, of course I met exactly what I said,” he told host Chris Cuomo on  “New Day.” “It’s a clear message.”

“We need to get our birthrates up or Europe will be entirely transformed within half a century or a little more,” King added. “And Geert Wilders knows that and that’s part of his campaign and part of his agenda.

“Western civilization [is a] superior civilization. I’d like to see an American that’s just so homogenous that we look a lot the same, from that perspective.”

King’s statements sparked  backlash from multiple Republicans, with Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (Fla.) urging him to “get a clue.” 

“Diversity is our strength,” tweeted Ros-Lehtinen, who is Cuban-American, on Monday. “All looking alike is such a waste. A travesty. I wanna be me. All others are taken.”

Rep. Carlos Curbelo (R-Fla.), who is the son of Cuban immigrants, has also repeatedly challenged King since Sunday to explain if he qualifies as “somebody else’s baby.”