Steve King says assuming all cultures are equal is ‘devaluing’ the Founding Fathers

Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) said at a constituent town hall Tuesday night that treating all cultures as equal is “devaluing” the country’s Founding Fathers.

“If we presume that every culture is equal and has an equal amount to contribute to our civilization, then we’re devaluing the contributions of the people that laid the foundation for America and that’s our Founding Fathers,” King said Tuesday, according to the Des Moines Register.

{mosads}The controversial Republican lawmaker added that his remarks Tuesday were “not about race, it’s never been about race. It is about culture.”

King has faced numerous controversies regarding similar comments he’s made, including in an interview with The New York Times where he questioned how terms such as “white supremacist” and “white nationalist” became “offensive.”

The nine-term congressman lost his committee assignments as a result of his comments.

King addressed that story on Tuesday.

“I am going to confess to you here. I have made more than one mistake, but we all have,” he said. “I should have never done an interview with The New York Times.”

He said he was caught off-guard by the interview request in the morning and did not have his hearing assistance device set up on his iPhone. He then pointed out that neither he nor The New York Times reporter has audio of the nearly hourlong interview.

As he has before when defending the comments, King said they were about Western civilization and culture, not race.

King said Tuesday during the town hall that he is pushing to regain his committee assignments and fighting back against the “political lynch mob.”

“I’ve been Mr. Nice Guy about this all along and let the cooler heads take over and now … pretty soon I’m going to start pushing,” he said, according to the news outlet.

King sparred with several constituents at the town hall Tuesday, notably one who claimed the congressman blocked her on Twitter. Video of King’s entire town hall was shared on his Facebook page.

During a town hall last month, King said after he was rebuked by the House and lost the committee assignments that he could better relate to the suffering Jesus Christ faced.