Rep. Steve King criticized Julián Castro, former housing secretary and Democratic presidential candidate, in a Thursday night tweet for calling to “abort men’s babies.”
“Hey @JulianCastro You think it’s NOT embarrassing when you declare that men can get pregnant and then you promote federal funding to abort men’s babies? Genius! A Democrat proposal that will have a CBO score of ZERO! And a bizarre score of 100!!” Mr. King, Iowa Republican, tweeted.
The congressman has been known to post tweets that some have seen as sexist, racist and homophobic.
He provided no clarification or context to his tweet, but it could be referring to a gaffe Mr. Castro made during the second round of Democratic primary debates.
Mr. Castro said he would endorse full “reproductive freedom” for women but continued by saying, “And, you know, what that means is that just because a woman — or let’s also not forget someone in the trans community, a trans female — is poor, doesn’t mean they shouldn’t have the right to exercise that right to choose. And so I absolutely would cover the right to have an abortion.”
Mr. Castro’s campaign manager later told Politico he misspoke.
Mr. King is likely referring to a trans women as a man by using their former gender as an insult. He also has a history of transphobic comments, including comparing transgender troops to castrated slaves.
Republican leadership called for his resignation this week after he questioned providing abortions in cases of rape and incest because he said it’s likely everyone’s lineage includes rape somewhere along the line.
• Bailey Vogt can be reached at bvogt@washingtontimes.com.
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