Representative Steve King of Iowa isn’t backing down from his controversial remarks about the children of illegal immigrants, saying Friday that he is guilty only of offering “an objective analysis.”
King has come under attack from politicians and pundits on both sides of the aisle for his comment that, among the children of illegal immigration, for every valedictorian, there are another one hundred who have “calves the size of cantaloupes because they’re hauling 75 pounds of marijuana across the desert.”
The Iowa congressman doubled down on that claim on radio talk show host Laura Ingraham’s show. She told him that his remarks have given Democrats “ammunition” and advised him to be “smarter” in his use of language.
“I have been saying this a different way for 10 years and they’re not paying attention,” King replied, arguing that his controversial characterization came from “many days down on the border, sitting with the border patrol” witnessing drug busts.
While House Speaker John Boehner and others are calling on King to apologize for his remarks, King maintained they are asking him to apologize because he “offended their agenda.”