January 24, 2019 12:17 PM UTC

"Dr. Chaps" Rallies To Rep. Steve King's Defense

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• by: Colorado Pols

As the pressure on Iowa Rep. Steve King to resign from Congress following his controversial remarks in apparent explicit support of white supremacy goes on, Right Wing Watch reported last week on a movement among religious conservative activists to rally support for King–with a familiar face among the faithful:

Religious Right leaders and right-wing activists are rallying in support of embattled Rep. Steve King, who has been under fire since a New York Times story quoted him wondering when terms like “white nationalist,” “white supremacist,” and “Western civilization” became offensive. His comment served to highlight his long history of unabashed racism and has resulted in King being stripped of his committee assignments, as well as a wave of calls for his resignation.

Amid this controversy, Religious Right leaders are voicing their support for King, thanks to an effort organized by radical right-wing activist Janet Porter. King is a close ally of Porter’s and even introduced a federal version of her “Heartbeat Bill” in Congress in 2017 that aimed to outlaw abortion, in Porter’s words, “before the mother even knows she’s pregnant.”

Porter is currently gathering signatures for a letter in support of King that will be sent to House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, urging him to issue an apology to King and reinstate his committee assignments. King and right-wing activist Ed Martin, one of the signers, slammed McCarthy earlier this week for not defending King.

And which local religious leader with one foot perennially in the door of Republican politics signed on? Why, former Rep.-turned Colorado Springs City Council candidate Gordon “Dr. Chaps” Klingenschmitt, who else!

Chaplain Gordon Klingenschmitt, PhD
Pray in Jesus Name Ministries
Nationally Syndicated PIJN NEWS
(in 54 million homes)

Gordon Klingenschmitt’s “nationally syndicated” video ministry audience wasn’t enough to keep him afloat in Colorado politics, where he traded his hard-won House District 15 seat for a failed run for the state senate and now is hoping to get back in the game with a seat on the Colorado Springs City Council. But maybe “Dr. Chaps” has enough juice to persuade Republican leaders in Congress to go easy on America’s most famous racist not named Roseanne Barr? 

Hope springs eternal, especially on the fringe of the fringe.