Rep. Steve King Image by Getty Image

Rep. Steve King made an off-color joke at a town hall-style meeting about Uighurs, a predominantly Muslim ethnic group that has been detained by the Chinese government, The New York Times reported.

“The Uighurs, the Muslims in China — a million of them — they’re being put into camps, and they’re taking their children away, and raising them, and then they’re sterilizing the women,” the Iowa congressman said. He then attempted to explain the mass internment, telling the crowd that in Beijing, Uighurs are being forced to eat pork, which goes against their religious dietary laws.

“That’s actually the only part of that that I agree with, is, everybody ought to eat pork,” he added. “If we have a shortage of bacon you can’t be happy.”

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

King has a long history with making racist and anti-immigration comments. Last year alone, he endorsed a white nationalist for mayor of Toronto, had an interview with members of a far-right Austrian political party with historic Nazi ties and retweeted a British neo-Nazi, which he refused to apologize for.

He has laid low since January, after he asked The New York Times when terms like “white supremacist” and “white nationalist” became offensive. This led the Republican Party to kick him off congressional committees, though some fellow GOP House members have lobbied to bring him back.

Alyssa Fisher is a writer at the Forward. Email her at fisher@forward.com, or follow her on Twitter at @alyssalfisher

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

The coming year promises to be filled with more complex and historic developments. We are entering an era where independent, fact-based Jewish journalism will be more important than ever. We need to be ready for whatever 2025 will bring, and with your help, we can be.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

$36 $500

$120 $180 Other amount