PRIMGHAR, Ia. — Pamela Harmon, a retired nurse and 4th District resident, stood up at U.S. Rep. Steve King's town hall meeting Saturday morning to address the embattled representative.

"As I came up today I thought it must be difficult to come with the difficulties you've been through, to come back and face your constituency. And I was wrong," Harmon said. "You're proud and talented and we're proud of you, and thanks for coming to see us."

The crowd applauded.

More than 40 Iowans braved the snowy weather to attend, a group largely made up of 4th District residents and King supporters. It was the first Iowa crowd King has publicly addressed since his controversial New York Times quote on white nationalism and white supremacy resulted in his committees being stripped and a House rebuke.

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The quiet crowd wrapped in winter wear did not question King about his comments. Before asking their questions, several said they did not believe the accusations against King.

"You being accused of being a racist, and all that other stuff," said Kelly O'Brien, the O'Brien County GOP chair, "I know you're not, Steve. I've known you forever."

King echoed that sentiment in his opening remarks. He compared the backlash to his recent comments on white supremacy and nationalism to the "inquisition" U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh faced during the Judiciary Committee hearings on his nomination.

King said his comment to the New York Times — "White nationalist, white supremacist, Western civilization — how did that language become offensive?” — was part of his defense of Western civilization. He said the backlash was about the left "policing our language."

"I’ve made more than one mistake, we all have," King said. "I should have never done an interview with the New York Times."

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He took questions from the crowd, which his staff vetted for content. King said his committee removals meant less now that Republicans weren't in charge of the House, but still said conservatives will miss having him on the Judiciary Committee.

"There's a 70 percent chance they’ll attempt an impeachment of Donald Trump," he said. "And they need seasoned members to give them an opportunity to defend themselves and defend them."

King also answered numerous questions on border security and immigration. He stood by his stances that the federal government needs to build a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border, and lightly criticized Trump for caving on the recent government shutdown.

"He didn't stick with this one the way I thought that he said that he would," King said, adding that "I think that he's closer to declaring a state of emergency."

When crowd members asked King about getting livestock and farm workers into the 4th District — which often are immigrant populations — he said border security needs to be addressed first.

"We can’t get to the rational solutions because we’ve irrationally let our borders stay open," he said. "The first thing is secure the border and then talk about everything else."

It was King's first stop in a town hall series he has planned for the year. He has said he will hold public meetings in all 39 counties throughout the 4th District. O'Brien County is in far northwest Iowa, and Primghar is far from most of the major cities in the district — more than an hour from Sioux City, nearly three hours from Ames and two and a half hours from Mason City.

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Judy Kulligan, a Sheldon Democrat who attended the town hall, said the location was deliberate.

"He picked Primghar and O'Brien County for a reason," she said. "He knew this would be safe, he knew people weren't going to come out on a cold morning and drive in the snow to challenge him. He knew it'd be easy and that's why he came here."

King got 65.2 percent of the vote in O'Brien County in last year's election. He won 50.4 percent of the vote in the district, making it his closest election since he started his nine terms in the House.

King has held few town halls in recent years. In 2017, King told the Sioux City Journal he held fewer of them because of fears over safety and potential derailment by protesters.

The representative said he preferred tele-town halls and requested meetings with community members, where he could discuss policy without opening up the floor to protesters.

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He also tangled with the media over coverage of his victory party after the November midterms. He barred the Des Moines Register and other media outlets from attending. There were no reports of media outlets denied access in advance of Saturday's town hall.

It was also King's first 4th District event since Republican challengers announced they would run against King. Iowa State Sen. Randy Feenstra announced he was running in early January. Jeremy Taylor, a Republican Woodbury County supervisor, announced his candidacy Thursday. Bret Richards, an Irwin Republican, is also running.

But Gaye Kammerer, a Primghar King supporter at the town hall, said she hasn't given challengers any thought.

King ended the town hall by reciting Rudyard Kipling's poem, "If—". Kipling is a famous British poet who published controversial pro-Imperialist poems, including one titled "The White Man's Burden."

"If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue, Or walk with Kings — nor lose the common touch…" the poem reads. "Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it, And —which is more — you’ll be a Man, my son!"

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