House

Comedians create ‘Confederate statue’ of Steve King

by Brooke Seipel - 02/28/20 5:21 PM ET

A pair of comedians has erected a “Confederate statue” of Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) outside the state capitol, marking another prank by the two, who are known to target conservatives.

“We put up a Confederate statue honoring Confederate sympathizer Steve King. Hopefully he will honor his heritage and not take it down,” The Good Liars tweeted alongside photos of the statue, which stands just a few inches tall.

We put up a confederate statue honoring confederate sympathizer Steve King. Hopefully he will honor his heritage and not take it down. pic.twitter.com/TuhKTmut1q

— The Good Liars (@TheGoodLiars) February 27, 2020

In the past, The Good Liars — Davram Stiefler and Jason Selvig — swapped out copies of Donald Trump Jr.’s book jacket at a store so they read “Daddy, Please Love Me: How Everything I Do Is Try To Earn My Father’s Love” instead of the book’s actual title: “Triggered: How the Left Thrives on Hate and Wants to Silence Us.”

After President Trump’s military strike in Iran in January, the group again targeted Trump Jr. by posting fake army recruitment posters with the president’s son on them. The posters said, “I’m not enlisting, but you should.”

The Good Liars told HuffPost in a statement that they pulled their latest prank because they “thought [King] deserves a lasting honor to remind citizens of Iowa who he is.”

“We’ve seen a lot of Republicans fighting the removal of Confederate monuments. So we are going to honor these modern day Confederate defenders by creating monuments for them around the country,” they told HuffPost. “That way their racism can be preserved forever. After all it’s part of history and shouldn’t be forgotten.”

King has not self-identified as a Confederate sympathizer, but he has sparked backlash in the past for controversial comments on issues such as race, abortion and rape as well as his support of white nationalist political candidates.

King endorsed a white nationalist candidate for Toronto mayor, Faith Goldy, who promoted a 1930s book that calls for the “extermination of Jews” and attended the Unite the Right rally of white nationalists in Charlottesville, Va., in 2017.

In one comment that sparked a firestorm last year, King was quoted as saying: “White nationalist, white supremacist, Western civilization — how did that language become offensive?”

The Republican has defended his comments, insisting they were at times taken out of context. He said at the time that he rejects “those labels and the evil ideology that they define.”

Still, his controversial comments resulted in him being stripped of committee assignments last year and condemned by fellow lawmakers, including Republicans. King has said he is now trying to fight his way back onto those committees.