Rep. Steve King (Gage Skidmore)

Political operative James Carville once said that when a politician tells the truth it’s called a gaffe. That’s what happened on Thursday when Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) did a lengthy interview with The New York Times in which he revealed his white supremacist views. In the interview, King shared his opinions on immigration and the importance of maintaining America’s white majority.

“White nationalist, white supremacist, Western civilization — how did that language become offensive?” said King.

The main difference between Trump and King, is as president, Trump can turn those white nationalist views into national policy.

Some people were shocked by King’s comments, but if you’ve been following his career this is nothing surprising. King just revealed his id. This is what he truly believes and he’s been open about it for years.

Over the years King has:

Displayed a Confederate flag on his desk, even though he’s not from the South. Iowa was part of the union during the Civil War. He later removed it, after a Confederate flag waver shot two Iowa police officers.

He stated that America cannot maintain it’s population “with other people’s babies.”

Accused most undocumented immigrants of being drug runners.

He stated that no other civilization had achieved as much as Europeans.

After visiting with European neo-Nazis, King said he shared their views. “If they were in America pushing the platform that they push, they would be Republicans,” said King.

He also said Barack Obama’s election would have “radical Islamists dancing in the streets.”

So there was nothing surprising about yesterday’s article. King was an early supporter of Donald Trump’s campaign. This is not surprising because their views are very similar. It’s just King has been open about his ideas for a long time.

The main difference between Trump and King, is as president, Trump can turn those white nationalist views into national policy. And that’s what he’s done. Cracking down on illegal and legal immigration, the Muslim ban and the wall are all decisions supported by white nationalists.

In spite of King’s openly white supremacist views, he insists he isn’t racist. King just thinks white people are better than everyone else. King has been in Congress since 2012, and narrowly, won his latest race. He still retains support in his district.

Some of his constituents aren’t bothered by his vile words. Dan Clark, a retired city administrator, said he’d never heard King say anything racist.

“No, no,” he said. “I’ve never heard anybody talking that he is. He was just a common, ordinary person, not a titled person of any kind before he was first elected, so that’s just kind of what we like.”

But some Iowa residents are irked by King’s views. According to The Guardian, Raymond Beebe, a Republican from Forest City, Iowa, said: “I’m tired of the embarrassment.”

Not surprisingly, the GOP has scrambled to cover for King’s gaffe.

“These comments are abhorrent and racist and should have no place in our national discourse,” said Rep. Liz Cheney. (R-Wyoming.)

And less than 24 hours after the story was printed, King tried to deny the comments that were printed in black and white.

“I want to make one thing abundantly clear; I reject those labels and the evil ideology that they define,” said King in a statement. “As I told the New York Times, ‘it’s not about race.’”

But King’s and Trump’s comments and views speak of a bigger problem with the GOP. Either you’re a white nationalist party or you aren’t. Right now, the party seems to want to have its cake and eat it. Republicans realize that as America becomes more diverse and ethnic minorities demand greater representation, appealing to diversity is the only way the party can stay viable.

King continues to remain in office because a lot of Republicans share his world view. King’s white nationalist views are shared by former Attorney General Jeff Sessions, former White House adviser Steve Bannon, current White House senior adviser Stephen Miller (a Jewish white supremacist) and former national security adviser and card-carrying neo-Nazi Sebastian Gorka. The fact that millions of Americans voted for Trump, shows they also support those views.

The recently-elected 116th Congress was the most diverse in history. It featured more women, Muslims, gay people and Native Americans. This is the future. But as long as the GOP keeps pushing King’s and Trump’s policies, they are not going to attract those voters.