WASHINGTON Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) has been widely condemned this week after tweeting on Sunday that we cant restore our civilization with somebody elses babies. Some Republicans, including the office of House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), rebuked the congressman . Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.), a civil rights leader, called the tweet racist .

But King had a few supporters former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke , for example, was happy with his comments and he didnt apologize. Instead, he defended his stance, tweeting on Monday a riff on President Donald Trump s campaign slogan: Lets Make Western Civilization Great Again!

This was not terribly surprising, as King has been making similar arguments and attracting support from white nationalists for years.

The only difference is that there are now people in the White House who share some of his views. Trump, White House chief strategist Stephen Bannon, policy advisers Steve Miller and Sebastian Gorka, and national security official Michael Anton have echoed Kings apocalyptic anti-immigration arguments, and theyre advancing policies for which he has long advocated.

Neither Kings office nor the White House responded to requests for comment.