For Trump’s Backers in Congress, ‘Devil Terms’ Help Rally Voters
WASHINGTON, D.C.—To some degree, Rep. Steve King (R-IA) and the conservative activists he has worked with are like the rest of us: They are attracted to the power of language.
They love to swear, to scream, and most of all, to shout.
“I’m probably more angry than I’ve ever been,” King told the Washington Post in a recent interview. “I hate the hypocrisy and the double-standard that we have in America, and I hate the fact that it’s acceptable to lie to the American people and it doesn’t matter.”
King has made it his life’s work to use and abuse the powers of “devil terms”—a reference to the biblical “thou shalt not”—to mobilize and inspire his followers to action against left-wing policies and leaders who dare challenge him.
“There’s a lot of people who want to get mad and want to throw rocks and want to throw their weight around,” King said. “But there’s also a lot of people that are frustrated. They’re tired. They’re angry. They want to do something about it. That’s the real power of words.”
King, who is also a radio show host with the syndicated radio show “Danger & Play,” which has attracted a loyal crowd of 2 million listeners, has been a critic of what he calls “a lot of the policies of the left.” In particular, he has been an outspoken advocate for the Second Amendment rights of gun owners, often going to extreme lengths to make sure that America’s gun owners were heard.
“I love to use the word ‘s—hole,’” King told the Post. “It’s like ‘w—hole,’ it means ‘shit hole.’ You know, ‘S-hole, S-hole,’ like a d-
