Sen. Ted Cruz, a Texas Republican and longtime ally of Rep. Steve King’s, criticized the congressman’s apparent defense of white supremacy. “What Steve King said was stupid,” Cruz told Chuck Todd on NBC’s Meet the Press. “It was stupid, it was hurtful, it was wrong, and he needs to stop it. I, I think all of us ought to be united, regardless of party, in saying white supremacism, white nationalism is hatred, it is bigotry, it is evil, it is wrong, and I think we need that clarity and I'm certainly going to urge everyone to provide that clarity.” King told The New York Times last week: “White nationalist, white supremacist, Western civilization — how did that language become offensive? Why did I sit in classes teaching me about the merits of our history and our civilization?” After the story was published, King called white supremacy an “evil ideology.” Despite the walk-back, King—one of Congress’s most adamant opponents of unlawful immigration—has drawn sustained criticism. Cruz declined to rule out supporting him in the future. “Are you going to support him in the future?” Todd asked. “What I’m going to do is urge everyone to stand for principles that matter,” Cruz replied.