The Duck Dynasty just got another “King”--and prominent Republican supporter, to boot.
In a campaign fundraising email sent to supporters earlier this week, Iowa Rep. Steve King lent his voice to a growing chorus of GOP leaders standing with the controversial reality star and businessman, Phil Robertson, who has come under fire in recent weeks for comments made in a GQ interview about gay and black people.
In the email, as reported by the Des Moines Register, King blasted liberals for not respecting conservative “opinions,” like Robertson’s, even when they’re “objectively true.”
What Robertson believes, said King, “is contrary to views held by those with loud megaphones, including the liberal media and PC police...The leftists who disagree with him made it clear with their attacks that conservatives are to be driven from public life if they express their opinions, however objectively true they might be.”
Robertson had spoken about “blacks” with whom he worked on cotton fields being happier in “pre-entitlement” days, as well as about vaginas being “more desirable than a man’s anus.” Many LGBT and civil rights advocates took offense. Those remarks led the television network A&E, which broadcasts Duck Dynasty, to temporarily suspended Robertson from the show--a move the drew heated criticism from conservative firebrands such as Sarah Palin, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, and Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal. A&E later lifted Robertson’s suspension.
King, no stranger himself to controversy, compared his critics to those of Robertson, and vowed to never apologize for his beliefs. Last year, the Iowa Republican made headlines when he declared: “For every [undocumented immigrant] who’s a valedictorian, there’s another 100 out there who weigh 130 pounds--and they’ve got calves the size of cantaloupes because they’re hauling 75 pounds of marijuana across the desert.”
King, who is up for re-election this year, went on to criticize people on the left for preaching a message of tolerance, while simultaneously refusing to tolerate Robertson’s views...of intolerance.
“This attack illustrates the left’s unspoken rule that tolerance is a one way street,” said King. “Conservatives are to be tolerant of liberal ideology; however, the left need not be tolerant of conservative Christians.”
He continued:
I have been in similar situations to the one Phil Robertson finds himself in now. I have learned to navigate their intolerance while holding firm to our values. Whether it’s the Robertsons or anyone who finds themselves in the crosshairs of the media or a leftist hyperventilater sitting across the table at the local diner, employ this strategy:Don’t back down. If you are right and you are standing on principle, whatever you do, don’t back down. The second you back down, they win.Don’t apologize. John Wayne said, “Never apologize. It’s a sign of weakness.” I agree, unless we are wrong and we are not wrong.Double down. Americans recognize courage and conviction. If the left attacks our conservative beliefs, I say, “If you don’t like that, here’s some more.”Never waiver from the truth. This includes taking on all the left’s false premises before they become the perceived truth. The left is not held accountable to the truth — it is our duty to expose them. Objective truth is a shield protecting us from the left.Tolerance has never been a two-way street with the left. Time and time again conservatives are lambasted for stating their opinions, the opinions derived from faith, family, and an understanding of history. Once again the left encourages a double standard to advance their agenda.As you know, I have not and will not back down. And like other conservatives who stand their ground, I’m always a top target of the left.Last election cycle, Col. Allen West, Michele Bachmann, and I were the three top targets of the liberals throughout the country. With Col. West’s defeat and now Michele’s retirement, I’m the last one standing.