Just days before Tuesday's election, U.S. Rep. Steve King remained mired in political controversy Wednesday with growing condemnation from Democrats, Republicans, and a host of others who accused him of hateful rhetoric and an extremist agenda.

King, an eight-term Iowa Republican from Kiron, has had a history of making controversial statements about race, immigration, LGBTQ issues and climate change and has repeatedly visited Europe and met with members of far-right political groups.

But criticism has reached a crescendo in the wake of the massacre of 11 Jews at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh and reports that King met in August in Austria with members of the Freedom Party, a political organization founded by a former Nazi SS officer. He also sat for an interview with Unzensuriert, a Freedom Party-aligned publication.

The latest developments include a demand from the head of the Anti-Defamation League, a New York-based Jewish organization that fights bigotry, that House Speaker Paul Ryan strip King of his chairmanships and censure or otherwise discipline him.

A fellow Republican, Rep. Carlos Curbelo of Florida, said King's comments on race and his association with white supremacists were disgusting, telling MSNBC on Wednesday, "I would never cast a ballot for someone like Steve King."

King represents Iowa's 4th Congressional District, which covers 39 counties in north-central and northwest Iowa, including Ames, Fort Dodge, Mason City and Sioux City. He has won eight terms, despite the controversy he has long attracted.

King's opponent hauls in huge cash

This year, King faces Democrat J.D. Scholten, who has raised twice as much money as King and been barnstorming the district while King has maintained a relatively low profile.

Scholten tweeted late Tuesday night that his campaign had become an "incredible" movement.

"In a little over 24 hours, we've received over $350,000 from over 7,500 individuals and signed up dozens of new volunteers," he said. Scholten is still considered a long shot to win the race, but he's hoping his hustle and grit will be keys to victory.

Meanwhile, the Fort Dodge Messenger endorsed King for a ninth term in the U.S. House, describing him as working to keep rural Iowa prosperous.

That followed last week's decision by the Sioux City Journal to endorse Scholten. The Journal said each time King immerses himself in controversy, he holds up the district to ridicule and marginalizes himself within the legislative body he serves. The Journal had repeatedly backed King in past re-election campaigns.

Renewed criticism

King was rebuked Tuesday by two Iowa Jewish leaders, disavowed by Rep. Steve Stivers, R-Ohio, and abandoned by the National Republican Congressional Committee, which Stivers chairs and which is the House Republicans' campaign arm. In addition, three major U.S. companies announced they will no longer donate campaign money to King.

King rejected the criticism, blaming "fake news" and "Never Trumpers" for attacking him.

The ADL's Greenblatt told Speaker Ryan in a letter that after years of offensive statements, "King has met with outright anti-Semitic organizations and individuals, giving them the imprimatur of legitimacy that comes with meeting with a member of Congress."

Greenblatt noted that during King's interview in Austria with Unzensuriert, the Iowa congressman raised the specter of Jewish philanthropist George Soros as being behind civil unrest and what King sees as the “Great Replacement,” a belief common among white nationalists that white Europeans are being replaced by minorities.

The meeting in Austria took place a day after King's five-day trip to Jewish and Holocaust sites in Europe, which was funded by From the Depths, a Holocaust memorial nonprofit.

"The massacre of 11 of our fellow Jews at prayer at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh has reminded us that silence in the face of anti-Semitism and hate is acquiescence. It is to enable it," Greenblatt wrote.

The Des Moines Register contacted Speaker Ryan's office Wednesday for comment and didn't receive a response.

Democratic candidate for governor Fred Hubbell received big cheers at a Democratic rally Tuesday night in Cedar Rapids when he called for Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds to remove King as her campaign co-chair because of the congressman's inflammatory remarks.

“Time and again, we have seen Steve King spew hateful, divisive rhetoric, and we have seen Gov. Reynolds defend her campaign co-chair,” Hubbell said in a prepared statement.

Reynolds' aides did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday, and neither did Jeff Kaufmann, chairman of the Republican Party of Iowa. Kaufmann's aide, Jesse Dougherty, said the chair's previous statements stand.

Both Reynolds and Kaufmann have said they disagree with some of the things King has said or done but have continued to support the GOP congressman.