A Tale Of Two Punished Republicans

Conservatives rushed to defend George Santos, but no one spoke up for Steve King

Congress made history last week with its expulsion of the colorful George Santos. The now former congressman was the first lawmaker booted who was not convicted of a crime or sided with the Confederacy during the Civil War. (Santos does face a criminal indictment.) 

Santos’ removal outraged many conservatives, who rushed to defend the botoxed drag queen. The Federalist ran three separate articles lambasting  his ouster. X (the platform formerly known as Twitter) was awash with conservatives condemning the GOP as cowards for this act. But the fierce reaction among conservatives was a bit odd. Other Republican lawmakers have faced penalties over their behavior, but only the gay con artist witnessed such a strong level of support. The incident shows that the GOP has greatly improved on how it deals with attacks from the Left. But it also highlights the American Right turning into the Insane Clown Party.

Let’s consider the other Republicans who’ve recently faced punishment over alleged misdeeds. In 2021, both Marjorie Taylor Greene and Paul Gosar lost their committee assignments. Gosar was also censured. Greene was punished for being into QAnon, Gosar was censured for posting a meme anime video that showed him dispatching Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. In 2019, then-congressman Steve King lost his committee assignments for defending western civilization in a way critics deemed “racist.”  None of them were accused of any crimes. They lost their committee assignments simply for controversial public statements.

Santos, on the other hand, stands credibly accused of serious crimes. It’s worse to (allegedly) steal money from MAGA grandmas to spend on OnlyFans than to post an offensive meme on Twitter. An expulsion is clearly more severe than censure or committee removal, but it’s proportionate to Santos’s greater offense.

Nearly all Republicans stood by Greene and Gosar, in stark contrast to Santos. Just 11 Republicans voted to remove Greene from her committee assignments while only two voted to censure Gosar. Nearly half of the GOP House Caucus voted to expel Santos. Without that Republican support, Santos wouldn’t have been expelled. The actions against Greene and Gosar only required the support of the then-Democratic majority. 

The reaction from conservative media and influences presented a stark contrast from the House GOP. . There wasn’t much support for Greene and Gosar, but there was plenty for Santos. 

Santos should hold his head up that at least a majority of Republicans voted in his favor and a number of them were willing to publicly defend him. Hardly any Republicans rose to defend Steve King. King was removed from his committee assignments not by a full House vote but by Republican leadership. This didn’t bother conservative media or conservative lawmakers. In fact, The Federalist, a useful gauge for conservative opinion, demanded that King be punished for his alleged racism.

What did King do that was so much worse than Santos’s fraud? Here’s the quote that ended his career:

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?

It was a weirdly worded defense of western civilization. King appeared to  ponder why “white nationalist” and “white supremacist” are terms to disparage western civilization. That’s pretty mainstream conservative discourse. 

But Republicans and conservatives acted like King endorsed white supremacy, and they came down hard on him. 

“That is not the party of Lincoln, and it is definitely not America. All people are created equal in America, and we want to take a very strong stance about that,” then-House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said in defense of King’s penalty. Only a few Republicans, such as then-Rep. Louie Gohmert, stood by King. But their support was more lowkey than what we see from Santos’s defenders. And no one in conservative media defended King.

There was a growing effort to remove King from office in the years prior to 2019. His offenses included tweeting that we can’t “restore our civilization with somebody else’s babies,” meeting with elected officials from the Austrian Freedom Party, defending the Confederate flag, and condemning illegal immigrants in strong terms. Some Republicans tried to help a Democrat beat King in 2018. Many conservatives openly cheered on a King loss, including The Federalist. In that publication, Lyman Stone argued that conservatives should not vote for King because he advances a “right-wing globalism” that “is contrary to American ideals of civic nationalism and embarrasses his country and his constituents.” The Weekly Standard, a neocon rag that died in 2019, had a reporter solely dedicated to destroying King. Right before the 2018 election, the chair of the National Republican Congressional Committee condemned King’s “white supremacy.” King still won his seat.

It took just two months for Republicans and conservatives to find an excuse to rid themselves of King. The loss of committee assignments severely hurt King in his district, and McCarthy publicly stated King would not sit on any committees even if he won re-election. The GOP establishment openly backed and fundraised for his primary challenger. Republicans effectively expelled King with hardly any protest from conservative media or House conservatives.

Why is there such a different reaction now to Santos’s expulsion versus King’s punishment? One reason is that the GOP and conservative media have dramatically improved on these issues. King would never be punished in today’s GOP. Most conservative outlets would defend him. Both Gosar and Greene were accused of racism, anti-Semitism, and ties to alleged extremists. Yet, they both received committee assignments when Republicans gained the majority, and very few Republicans cast them to the wolves. 

King had the misfortune of being the “racist” congressman in the late 2010s. Following Charlottesville, there was a committed effort on the American Right to purge itself of any association with the alt right. The Trump administration fired staffers who went to conferences that featured wrongthinkers, right-wing outlets threatened to fire employees if they associated with highly respected writers, and conservative institutions zealously rooted out anyone who might have used alt-right lingo. It was a tough time to address the Great Replacement and anti-white racism, despite Trump being president and Tucker Carlson hosting the most popular cable news show. King was slated for removal because the GOP and conservative movement wanted to rid itself of anything deemed “racist.”

But the purgers failed. Now, the American Right is far more like Steve King than ever before. Lawmakers openly address anti-white racism and the Great Replacement. Republicans desperately seek out associations with European nationalists, especially Viktor Orban. The mainstream Right is not as bothered by left-wing hit pieces and guilt by association. Tucker Carlson still has a high reputation in the conservative world despite the numerous accusations of racism flung against him.

King was just saying the right things at the wrong time. The different reaction to Santos can serve as a white pill. The American Right has improved dramatically since his defenestration.

But that knowledge doesn’t wipe away the outrage. King did absolutely nothing wrong. He was punished for speaking truth to power. Santos, however, is accused of doing something actually wrong. Fleecing ordinary conservatives and spending their money on gay porn and Botox is indefensible. 

That’s why it’s still outrageous that conservatives rallied to Santos when they condemned King. 

While it’s good that the Right now tries to defend its own, that doesn’t make Santos a figure worth supporting. He’s definitely entertaining, but he is still a con man preying on conservatives. And he’s a political liability.

But Santos’s clownishness endears him to conservatives. He represents the Grand Old Party descending into the Insane Clown Party. Serious ideas and principles don’t matter to the ICP. Just entertainment. Grifting and scams come with the territory. But as long as the audience is entertained and bamboozled into thinking they’re owning the libs, everything is okay. Santos served up the entertainment and scams to the max.  He had no real beliefs besides obtaining fame and wealth by any means necessary.

Unfortunately, the American Right serves as the perfect vehicle for the unscrupulous to achieve fame and wealth. The ICP is all too real, and the Santos episode reveals that there will be many more like him to gain leading roles on the Right.

If only we had more people like Steve King. King was a little goofy and eccentric, but he was principled and committed to his beliefs. He didn’t defend western civilization or speak out against the Great Replacement to get more retweets or donations. He did these things because he genuinely believed in them.

While the Right will now vigorously defend King’s views, it’s also susceptible to the most clownish frauds imaginable. The ICP can’t make positive change or gain political power, but it can amuse us. For too many people, that’s enough. No one who truly cares about the future of our country should settle for the ICP’s carnival. It’s why we shouldn’t cry over Santos’s expulsion. It’s better to be rid of a gay con artist than to have one represent your politics.