STRONG BASE

Leaked Messages of White Nationalist Group: ‘We Need 100 Steve Kings in Office’

The white nationalist group pushed members to donate and call Capitol Hill to “keep him in office” amid controversy.

A white nationalist group named a designated hate organization by the Southern Poverty Law Center reportedly waged a frantic campaign to keep Rep. Steve King (R-IA) in office after he suffered a backlash from other lawmakers. Identity Evropa is said to have urged members to donate to King's campaign and to popularize the group's tweets enough to get a social media endorsement from the lawmaker. HuffPost reports that the group worried about the backlash against King's “white nationalist” comments in Discord chatroom messages. “Steve King is more useful in Congress than as a nobody,” user TMatthews reportedly wrote. “He needs to be more careful about who he talks to and to not make tactless statements to the media.” Identity Evropa’s leader, Patrick Casey, then reportedly ordered members in the chatroom to call House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) after news broke that King would be stripped of his committee assignments. “Your task for today is to call Kevin McCarthy’s office and let them know that you stand with Steve King—that you take issue with McCarthy’s kowtowing to the left. Call both of these numbers,” Casey reportedly wrote. “Let’s get to work.”

The group also reportedly coordinated campaign support in the chatroom, encouraging those in the chat to donate a small sum to King's campaign and to call the campaign to give their verbal support. Members also pushed others to like and retweet the group's Twitter posts so that King could retweet or respond. “Our opponents have turned their gaze upon him, and Conservative Inc has, predictably, abandoned him,” one user wrote. “We need to keep him in office. We need 100 Steve Kings in office. Call his office too and show your support.”

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