Date: November 13, 2019
“GOP representatives run scared, abandoning Trump. John Iadarola and Brooke Thomas break it down on The Damage Report.
Rep. Peter King (R-NY), who has served in the House of Representatives for nearly three decades, announced his retirement Monday, becoming the 20th House Republican to retire ahead of the 2020 election.
“The prime reason for my decision was that after 28 years of spending 4 days a week in Washington, D.C., it is time to end the weekly commute and be home in Seaford,” King, who is 75, wrote in a statement. “There is a season for everything and [my wife] and I decided that, especially since we are both in good health, it is time to have the flexibility to spend more time with our children and grandchildren.”
King is an ally of President Donald Trump with his own history of controversial stances, from his support for the Irish Republican Army, to his claim that “80 to 85 percent of mosques in this country are controlled by Islamic fundamentalists,” to blaming Eric Garner rather than the New York City police officer who killed him for his death: “If he had not had asthma, and a heart condition, and was so obese, he would not have died from this.