NYT updates Steve King story to call his remarks ‘racist’

The New York Times on Saturday issued an update to a news story about Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) which changed a description of his past controversial remarks to label them “racist.”

In a tweet, the Times wrote that the change was done to “more accurately” describe King’s history of remarks about immigrants and diversity, which the newspaper previously referred to as “racially tinged.”

{mosads}”We have updated the language in the article to more accurately describe Steve King’s history of racist remarks,” the Times wrote in a second tweet about the story, which referred to King’s close reelection battle in Iowa.

We have updated the language in the article to more accurately describe Steve King’s history of racist remarks https://t.co/5Gn6xnseGT

— NYT Politics (@nytpolitics) November 3, 2018

King has faced increased pressure recently for remarks about immigration and race, which this week earned denouncements from Republicans including National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Rep. Steve Stivers (R-Ohio) and Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake (R).

“Congressman Steve King’s recent comments, actions, and retweets are completely inappropriate. We must stand up against white supremacy and hate in all forms, and I strongly condemn this behavior,” Stivers tweeted this week.

The congressman also went viral this week in a videotaped exchange with a questioner at a town hall event who questioned whether he was a white nationalist. Several companies, including tech giant Intel Corp. and dairy company Land O’Lakes, announced this week that they will no longer contribute to King’s campaign.

The Iowa Republican is running for reelection in Tuesday’s midterm contests, and led his Democratic opponent by just 1 percentage point in a recent poll from a left-leaning firm.