GOP lawmaker challenges Rep. King’s desire for ‘homogeneous’ America

The number of House Republicans publicly criticizing Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) for his controversial tweet saying that “we can’t restore our civilization with somebody else’s babies” grew to two on Monday.

King doubled down on his comments during an appearance on CNN’s “New Day” on Monday, endorsing the views of far-right Dutch politician Geert Wilders.

The Iowa congressman criticized immigrants who don’t “assimilate into the American culture” and expressed his belief that “Western civilization” is “superior.”

{mosads}”I’d like to see an America that’s just so homogenous that we look a lot the same, from that perspective,” King said.

Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.), who is Cuban-American, said her fellow lawmaker needs to “get a clue.”

“Diversity is our strength. All looking alike is such a waste. A travesty. I wanna be me. All others are taken,” she wrote in a tweet on Monday.

Another Cuban-American House Republican, Rep. Carlos Curbelo (Fla.), pushed back against King’s original tweet on Sunday night.

“What exactly do you mean? Do I qualify as ‘somebody else’s baby?’ #concernedGOPcolleague,” Curbelo tweeted.

“Wilders understands that culture and demographics are our destiny. We can’t restore our civilization with somebody else’s babies,” King wrote in a tweet on Sunday with a cartoon depicting Wilders plugging a hole in a wall that reads “Western civilization.”

King’s comments have drawn backlash from a handful of fellow Republicans, including Iowa GOP Chairman Jeff Kaufmann and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush.

None of the members of the House GOP leadership, meanwhile, has issued any response to King.