Washington (CNN) Republican Rep. Steve King, who has a lengthy history of incendiary comments related to race, favorably compared the response of his Iowan constituents, who are majority white, to recent severe flooding to the residents of New Orleans when Hurricane Katrina struck in 2005, who were majority black.

Speaking at a town hall in his district Thursday, King suggested that Hurricane Katrina disaster victims were asking for government assistance after the deadly storm hit, pushing a racial stereotype.

"Here's what FEMA tells me. We go to a place like New Orleans, and everybody's looking around saying, 'Who's going to help me? Who's going to help me?'" King said, adding that he made four trips to New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

"We go to a place like Iowa, and we go, we go see, knock on the door at, say, I'll make up a name, John's place, and say, 'John, you got water in your basement, we can write you a check, we can help you.' And John will say, 'Well, wait a minute, let me get my boots. It's Joe that needs help. Let's go down to his place and help him,'" King said.

He added that FEMA is "always gratified when they come and see Iowans take care of each other, and so that's a point of pride that spreads across the country everywhere that I know."

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