Congressman Steve King says water from toilet-fountain hybrid at detention center was "not bad"
Iowa Representative Steve King shared a video Wednesday of himself drinking from a water fountain-toilet hybrid at a migrant detention center. He claimed the water was "not bad."
The controversial congressman shared the video as a rebuttal to Democrats, who have described the conditions at detention facilities as unsanitary and inhumane. King said there is "no way" Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was telling the truth about the conditions, calling her claims "click bait for Snowflakes."
The video shows King taking a sip from the fountain, calling the water, "not bad."
"I actually went into that cell where it was reported that they were advised they had to drink out of the toilet," King told a small crowd in Eagle Grove, Iowa. "I took a drink out of there. And actually pretty good."
King attempted to explain how the devices are used, calling reports about them "misinformation" that stemmed from a language barrier between officers and detained migrants.
"In the back where the lid would be on our toilet, that's also sealed. And there's a water fountain there, you push the button, the water comes out and you take a drink, it's how it is," King said. "It's not drinking out of the toilet, it's drinking out of the water fountain that's integral with the back of the toilet."
Ocasio-Cortez visited two facilities in July. She said at the time that Customs and Border Patrol officers were telling detained women to "drink out of the toilet." She said she observed a pattern of "systemic cruelty" and tweeted that women were told to drink out of the toilet bowl because the sink function was broken.
According to the attorneys who inspected one facility she visited, older children were taking care of the younger ones. Some young mothers had to wear clothes stained with breast milk. The children also did not have access to soap and toothbrushes, and most had not showered since they crossed the southern border.
The Department of Homeland Security's internal watchdog also found squalid conditions in several detention centers for migrant families and children in Texas, including "serious" overcrowding, minors going without hot meals for days and detainees begging not to be returned to their cells.
Ocasio-Cortez fired back Wednesday night to the video King posted.
"There is a genre of videos where GOP House members — who clearly didn't read sworn testimony that detention sinks were broken — filming themselves drinking out of toilet sinks," she tweeted. "They're so anti-immigrant they risk pink eye to show off that they didn't do the reading."
This is not the first time comments by the Republican congressman have sparked an uproar. In August, King wondered if there would be "any population of the world" remaining if not for people born as a result of rape or incest.
In January, he was stripped of his committee assignments over comments he made defending white supremacy and white nationalism. Many Democrats have called for King to step down.
