Republican representative Steve King has refused to answer a question about whether he thinks white societies are superior after he was stripped of his committee assignments over his comments about white supremacy.

While speaking at a town hall meeting in Iowa on Tuesday, one of his constituents Mary Lavelle asked: “Do you think a white society is superior to a nonwhite society?”

In response, Mr King said: “I don’t have an answer for that. That’s so hypothetical."

“I’ll say this, America is not a white society – it has never been a completely white society. We came here and joined the Native Americans.”

He added: “I’ve long said that a baby can be lifted out of a cradle anywhere in the world and brought into any home in America, whatever the colour of the folks in that household, and they can be raised to be American as any other."

Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Show all 9 1 /9 Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Protesters clash and several are injured White nationalist demonstrators clash with counter demonstrators at the entrance to Lee Park in Charlottesville, Virginia. A state of emergency is declared, August 12 2017 Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Trump supporters at the protest A white nationalist demonstrator walks into Lee Park in Charlottesville, Va., Saturday, Aug. 12, 2017. Hundreds of people chanted, threw punches, hurled water bottles and unleashed chemical sprays on each other Saturday after violence erupted at a white nationalist rally in Virginia. AP Photo Violence on the streets of Charlottesville State police stand ready in riot gear Virginia State Police cordon off an area around the site where a car ran into a group of protesters after a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia AP Photo Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Militia armed with assault rifles White nationalists, neo-Nazis and members of the 'alt-right' with body armor and combat weapons evacuate comrades who were pepper sprayed after the 'Unite the Right' rally was declared a unlawful gathering by Virginia State Police. Militia members marched through the city earlier in the day, armed with assault rifles. Getty Images Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Statue of Confederate General Robert E Lee The statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee stands behind a crowd of hundreds of white nationalists, neo-Nazis and members of the 'alt-right' during the 'Unite the Right' rally 12 August 2017 in Charlottesville, Virginia. They are protesting the removal of the statue from Emancipation Park in the city. Getty Images Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Racial tensions sparked the violence White nationalists, neo-Nazis and members of the 'alt-right' exchange insults with counter-protesters as they attempt to guard the entrance to Lee Park during the 'Unite the Right' rally Getty Violence on the streets of Charlottesville A car plows through protesters A vehicle drives into a group of protesters demonstrating against a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. The incident resulted in multiple injuries, some life-threatening, and one death. AP Photo Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Rescue personnel help injured people after a car ran into a large group of protesters after an white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia AP Photo Violence on the streets of Charlottesville President Donald Trump speaks about the ongoing situation in Charlottesville, Virginia from his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey. He spoke about "loyalty" and "healing wounds" left by decades of racism.

And I believe that every one of us, every one of us, is created in God’s image.”

Ms Lavelle said she asked the question because she worried that anti-immigrant language used in a manifesto written by the suspect in the mosque shooting in Christchurch, New Zealand, resembled Mr King’s own rhetoric.

Mr King's response comes after he was publicly rebuked by members of his own party following his long history of racist comments.

House Republican leaders removed Mr King from his committee assignments in January after comments he made to the New York Times questioned why the phrase “white supremacy” was considered offensive.

A number of powerful party leaders, including Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the majority leader, and Representative Liz Cheney of Wyoming, the No 3 House Republican, suggested he should resign.

The House overwhelmingly passed a resolution disapproving of Mr King’s statements.

After losing his committee seats, Mr King released a statement insisting that his comments had been misunderstood.

He said he had been referring only to “Western civilisation” when he asked “how did that language become offensive,” not “white nationalist” or “white supremacist”.

Mr King again faced scrutiny on Monday after a post on his Facebook page speculated who would win a second civil war between red states and blue states.

The post, which has since been deleted, read: “Folks keep talking about another civil war; one side has about 8 trillion bullets while the other side doesn’t know which bathroom to use."

On Tuesday, pressed by a reporter from CNN, Mr King told constituents that he “wasn’t aware” that the image had been published on his Facebook page the night before and said he does not personally manage that page.

“I wish it had never gone up,” he said.

While gesturing to his constituents, he added: “It’s interesting that nobody here asked that question,”

“The only people who care about that is national news media. Nobody has raised the issue around here."

This comment prompted a handful of attendees to protest. The exchange was quickly picked up by American Bridge, a liberal political action committee.

After being asked about the manifesto, Mr King responded at length.

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He said the author of the manifesto had expressed as much sympathy for Communist China as white supremacy.

“The further it went, the more inconsistent it became, and he seems to have mixed and matched ideologies,” he said.

Pressed about the overlap between the manifesto’s language and his own, Mr King said: “He also likely used the same words that Mao used.”