Iowa Congressman Steve King is at it again. This time he praised Dutch politician Geert Wilders for wanting to “de-Islamify” The Netherlands.

Wilders understands that culture and demographics are our destiny. We can't restore our civilization with somebody else's babies. https://t.co/4nxLipafWO

— Steve King (@SteveKingIA) March 12, 2017

The reaction from Twitter has been pretty swift, with people using expletives to tell King off, while others believe he should just delete his account.

One person who is a fan of King’s statement is David Duke.

https://twitter.com/DrDavidDuke/status/841006623262986241

https://twitter.com/DrDavidDuke/status/840991087959379969

It’s important to understand the context of King’s Twitter post. It has to do with the riots/demonstration/something which happened in Rotterdam after The Netherlands wouldn’t allow two Turkish officials into the country. Via DutchNews.nl (which is in English, so yay to no Google translate):

Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte on Sunday described actions of the Turkish government in sending a minister to Rotterdam despite being told she was not welcome as ‘extraordinary’. Minister for the family Fatma Betül Sayan Kaya was stopped from entering the consulate in Rotterdam when she arrived on Saturday night, prompting a stand-off lasting several hours. Riot police were drafted in to clear the area near the consulate which had been declared a no-go zone by mayor Ahmed Aboutaleb earlier in the day. In total, 12 people were arrested and seven people, including six demonstrators, were injured, the NRC said.

The deeper fight appears to be over a Turkish referendum which would give more power to President Tayyip Erdogan, and the fact the Dutch are holding an election on Wednesday. The election the aforementioned Wilders is hoping to win. Via BBC:

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has warned the Netherlands it will “pay the price” for harming ties after two of his ministers were barred.

The two ministers were blocked from addressing Turkish expatriates in Rotterdam on Saturday, with one of them escorted to the German border.

The Dutch government said such rallies would stoke tensions days before the Netherlands’ general election…

Turkey is holding a referendum on 16 April on whether to turn from a parliamentary to a presidential republic, more akin to the United States.

If successful, it would give sweeping new powers to the president, allowing him or her to appoint ministers, prepare the budget, choose the majority of senior judges and enact certain laws by decree…What’s more, the president alone would be able to announce a state of emergency and dismiss parliament.
There are 5.5 million Turks living outside the country, with 1.4 million eligible voters in Germany alone – and the Yes campaign is keen to get them on side.
So a number of rallies have been planned for countries with large numbers of expat voters, including Germany, Austria and the Netherlands.

What’s interesting is the Dutch government appears to be more interested in reminding the Turks in The Netherlands that they’re no longer Turkish citizens, but Dutch citizens. From DutchNews.NL:

Rutte told WNL what is crucial now is to de-escalate the situation. ‘I’ve never been involved in anything like this,’ he told television show WNL op Zondag. The Netherlands, he said, would not give into blackmail. Rutte said he had spoken to Turkish prime minister Binali Yildirim eight times in the past few days, the last time at around 2am. The biggest problem, Rutte said, is that the Turkish government talks continually about Turkish citizens in the Netherlands. ‘They are Dutch citizens,’ he said.

It’s a pretty interesting strategy, and one which is something the U.S. has done in the past. The immigrants who have come to the U.S. tend to assimilate into American society (the melting pot analogy), with their kids and grandkids identifying more are Americans, instead of still being a member of the country they came from. It appears the Turks are the ones trying to make the immigrants outliers, by claiming, “Hey…you belong to us.”

What’s even more interesting is Rotterdam’s Muslim mayor (who happens to hold duel Moroccan citizenship), is defending the Dutch government for their actions.

Rotterdam’s mayor later told reporters the consul himself had mislead the Dutch authorities in a ‘scandalous manner’ by saying nothing had been planned and then calling on people to come to the consulate.

Turkey had also used decoy convoys in an effort to deceive the Dutch police as to the minister’s whereabouts, [Ahmed] Aboutaleb said.

And he reacted angrily to accusations that the Netherlands is a ‘remnant of fascism. ‘Do they not know I am the mayor of a city bombed by the Nazis,’ the mayor is quoted as saying.

So how does this connect to King?

It appears King is using the riots in The Netherlands to promote racial purity, and not letting other religious or cultures into the U.S. But if the people coming into the U.S. want to assimilate and “become Americans,” they should be allowed to. If they don’t, that’s their choice, and they can always return to the country they came from when they can. King’s comments in support of Wilders are quite disturbing, even if he is more of a fan of fiscal responsibility than not. It’s up to the voters in Iowa’s Fourth Congressional District whether they want to keep sending him to DC or not. If they do, as they have on a regular basis, that’s on them.

It would be nice if King would provide more context to the tweet, but somehow, I doubt he will.