Why Does Birther Congressman Steve King Have a Confederate Flag on His Desk?

Last week, U.S. Representative Steve King, a Republican from Iowa, spoke to Sioux City TV station KCAU about the bill he recently introduced in Congress. In the video interview, a Confederate flag is displayed on King’s desk, along with the U.S. flag, the Iowa state flag, the Gadsden flag, and the Papal State flag.

King defended the display of the Confederate flag over the South Carolina state Capitol last year, following Dylann Roof’s attack on a historic black church in Charleston. (The flag was ultimately lowered.) More recently, the congressman tried to block Harriet Tubman from being put on the $20 bill.

The appearance of the flag on the perennial birther’s desk was first noted by Iowa politics blog Iowa Starting Line. King’s office uploaded video of the interview to his official YouTube page.

“Iowans fought and died to uphold the Union,” Betty Andrews, president of the Iowa-Nebraska NAACP State Area Conference of Branches, told the Des Moines Register. “And given (King’s) recent attempt to block Harriet Tubman from the twenty dollar bill, and of course his track record, I just think Iowa voters need to take another look at who they elected to office.”

In a previous interview with the Register, King bragged about his collection of Civil War-era artifacts, and praised his family members, who fought in the war, for being abolitionists. He did not appear to mention the Confederate flag on his desk.