Melissa Joskow / Media Matters King lost committee assignments after questioning why it is “offensive” to be a “white nationalist” in a NY Times interview King asked The New York Times when “white nationalist” became an “offensive” phrase. King, who has a history of spouting racism and supporting white nationalists, said to The New York Times in an interview, “White nationalist, white supremacist, Western civilization — how did that language become offensive?” [The New York Times, 1/10/19, 10/14/19] House GOP stripped King of committee assignments after Times interview.