State Senator Randy Feenstra (R-Hull) announced that he raised $100,000 in the first ten days of his campaign to challenge Congressman Steve King (R-Iowa) for the Republican nomination in Iowa’s 4th Congressional District in 2020.
“Just ten days ago, we announced our campaign for Congress because the people of Iowa’s 4th District deserve to have an effective conservative leader representing our communities,” Feenstra said. “Since launching our campaign, the financial support and encouragement from conservatives across our district and the country
Feenstra gained national media attention after King was quoted in the New York Times saying, “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?”
King was later removed from his committees, and the House passed a resolution mentioning King while condemning white nationalism and white supremacy.
King has said that he was repeating back phrases the New York Times reporter used and that phrase “Western civilization” was preceded by a pause and should have been a separate sentence. He has since condemned the ideology of white nationalism and white supremacy.
After the New York Times article, Ben Shapiro, the host of the popular Ben Shapiro Show and founder of The Daily Wire, said he would donate to Feenstra’s campaign in and encouraged others to do the same.