Possible tax returns, and Steve King's racist adventure.

 Not much tonight,  folks, except that Rachel Maddow just tweeted that she has Herr trump's tax returns.

I will believe it when I see it. This could be one of those intentional leaks by team trump to distract from all of his other problems. Just remember, those returns (that she claims to have) could be doctored and made to look like they are what he actually submitted to the IRS.

Honestly, I am not so sure about this whole story. I mean why her?

If true, though, it will be a major story, and a major get on her part.

Stay tuned.

And meanwhile, racist politician, Steve King, is doubling down on his ignorance with more remarks about race in America.

David Graham writing for The Atlantic had some very interesting things to say about King in the age of trump.

"Steve King has always made a habit of speaking his mind, and quite frequently his mind has been controversial, blatantly false, or outright racist.

The Republican congressman from Iowa is the man who said in 2013 that while some children brought to the U.S. illegally were good kids, there were others “who weigh 130 pounds and they’ve got calves the size of cantaloupes because they’re hauling 75 pounds of marijuana across the desert.”

That may have been his most famous moment, but it was hardly alone. He called Barack Obama “Kim Jong POTUS.” He disregarded abuses at Abu Ghraib prison as “hazing.” He argued, without any evidence, that Hillary Clinton aide Huma Abedin had dangerous connections to the Muslim Brotherhood. The litany could continue, but it won’t, because a quick Google search produces many lists of outrageous King comments. The trail goes back at least as far as 2003, when he first joined the House, and has been consistent ever since.

“This whole white-people business, though, does get a little tired, Charlie,” King said. “I'd ask you to go back through history and figure out where are these contributions that have been made by these other categories of people that you are talking about. Where did any other subgroup of people contribute more to civilization?”

“Than white people?” Hayes asked, taken aback. “Than Western Civilization itself,” King said.
It was classic King: Nonchalantly delivered, stunningly offensive, and completely fact-free, since non-white people, and indeed non-Western people, have contributed a great a deal to the world. "[More]

In a way, King is the perfect politician for the alt-right movement that is sweeping the GOP and the right wing in this country. He speaks his mind, and says openly what many of them think, privately. He is in a safe district, so he doesn't have to worry about losing an election, because he was sent to Washington by so many like minded people.

A few republicans have come forward to condemn his comments, but they did so reluctantly. The White House had to be prodded into distancing themselves from him as well, and they seemed to be doing it with their fingers crossed.  When first asked, press secretary Sean Spicer said that he would have to ask the president and get back to us on that one. Why? That should have been a very easy statement to rebuke. Finally, in today's press conference, he gave the president's tepid response.

"The White House on Tuesday distanced itself from Republican Rep. Steve King's inflammatory comments about immigrants, as Democrats pressed House GOP leaders to punish the Iowa lawmaker by stripping him of a chairmanship.

King said this weekend that America can't restore "our civilization with somebody else's babies" and warned of a liberal effort to destroy Western civilization through immigration. Questioned about the comments, White House spokesman Sean Spicer said President Donald Trump "believes that this is not a point of view that he shares."

 

"He believes he's the president for all Americans, and so I'll leave it at that," Spicer told reporters at his daily briefing.

 

King was a strong supporter of Trump in the 2016 campaign and backed the candidate's tough stand on immigration." [Source]

 

Yes Sean, you better leave it right there.