Dem Rep. Castro: Scalise should not be in leadership post

Rep. Joaquín Castro (D-Texas) is calling on House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) not to accept a leadership position in the new Congress after revelations that Scalise spoke to a white supremacist group. 

I hope that Congressman Scalise will do the right thing and decline any leadership nomination.

— Joaquin Castro (@JoaquinCastrotx) January 6, 2015

Castro, a rising star in the Democratic Party, is going further than most other Democrats, including House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) and President Obama, who have not called on Scalise to give up his leadership post.

{mosads}White House press secretary Josh Earnest, though, highlighted the controversy on Monday. “[President Obama] believes it’s ultimately their decision to make,” Earnest said of House Republicans. “But there’s no arguing that who the Republicans decide to elevate into a leadership position says a lot about what the conference’s priorities and values are.”

Scalise has said he regrets speaking to a white supremacist group when he was a state legislator in 2002 and that he did not know about the group’s beliefs.

Scalise appears on track to remain as whip, with Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) backing him. 

Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney (D-N.Y.) has also called on Scalise to step down.

Castro told The Washington Post last week that it is hard to believe that Scalise did not know about the group, given that it was founded by David Duke, a well-known former Ku Klux Klan leader.

“It’s hard to believe, given David Duke’s reputation in Louisiana, that somebody in politics in Louisiana wasn’t aware of Duke’s associations with the group and what they stand for,” Castro said.