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---
title: Jeb Bush: Steve King&#x27;s Comments Don&#x27;t Reflect Our Values
description: Jeb Bush denounced Iowa Rep. Steve King&#x27;s controversial tweet about immigration, saying it doesn&#x27;t reflect American values.
canonical: https://time.com/4699737/jeb-bush-steve-king-comment/
author: Tessa Berenson
article:opinion: false
article:content_tier: free
article:published_time: 2017-03-13T17:07:47.000Z
article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T08:04:16.567Z
article:section: Politics
og:title: Jeb Bush Says Steve King&#x27;s Comments Don&#x27;t Reflect Our Values
og:description: The former Florida governor denounced King&#x27;s comments on Twitter
og:url: https://time.com/4699737/jeb-bush-steve-king-comment/
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og:image:alt: The Edwin L. Godkin Lecture ByThe Honorable Jeb Bush At Harvard
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twitter:title: Jeb Bush Says Steve King&#x27;s Comments Don&#x27;t Reflect Our Values
twitter:description: The former Florida governor denounced King&#x27;s comments on Twitter
twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4a2105b9f03295d6/6988be21fb4eac638d89117c/jeb-bush.jpg?branch=production&amp;width=3840&amp;quality=75&amp;auto=webp&amp;crop=16:9
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# Jeb Bush Says Rep. Steve King's Comments Don't Reflect Our Values

<!-- video src="https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/uXcCcNwr.m3u8" -->
## Video: Steve King Defends His Tweet Supporting Far-Right Dutch Politician

[Watch (HLS stream): Steve King Defends His Tweet Supporting Far-Right Dutch Politician](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/uXcCcNwr.m3u8) (1:10)

![Steve King Defends His Tweet Supporting Far-Right Dutch Politician](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/uXcCcNwr/poster.jpg?width=720)

_Published 2017-03-13. Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) defended his widely condemned tweet in support of far-right Dutch politician Geert Wilders during an appearance on CNN._


![Tessa Berenson](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltec0484fe1b20c577/698a0ced86f68ed9d96ee9e6/tessa-berenson-author-2020.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1:1)

by 

[Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)


![Tessa Berenson](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltec0484fe1b20c577/698a0ced86f68ed9d96ee9e6/tessa-berenson-author-2020.jpg?branch=production&width=96&quality=75&auto=webp)

## Tessa Berenson


Mar 13, 2017 5:07 PM UTC

![The Edwin L. Godkin Lecture ByThe Honorable Jeb Bush At Harvard](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4a2105b9f03295d6/6988be21fb4eac638d89117c/jeb-bush.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=3:2)

Jeb Bush delivers the Edwin L. Godkin Lecture at Harvard University on September 29, 2016 in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Jeb Bush delivers the Edwin L. Godkin Lecture at Harvard University on September 29, 2016 in Cambridge, Massachusetts.Paul Marotta—Getty Images

![Tessa Berenson](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltec0484fe1b20c577/698a0ced86f68ed9d96ee9e6/tessa-berenson-author-2020.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1:1)

by 

[Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)


![Tessa Berenson](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltec0484fe1b20c577/698a0ced86f68ed9d96ee9e6/tessa-berenson-author-2020.jpg?branch=production&width=96&quality=75&auto=webp)

## Tessa Berenson


Mar 13, 2017 5:07 PM UTC

Jeb Bush took to Twitter to denounce Rep. Steve King’s (R-Iowa) controversial [tweet about immigration](http://time.com/4699397/rep-steve-king-twitter/), saying it doesn’t reflect American values.

“America is a nation of immigrants,” the former Florida governor tweeted Monday. “The sentiment expressed by Steve King doesn’t reflect our shared history or values.”

> [](https://twitter.com/JebBush/status/841298003554111488)

Bush is responding to a tweet by King on Sunday, where he showed support for far-right Dutch politician [Geert Wilders](http://time.com/4696459/geert-wilders-the-dutch-trump/?iid=sr-link1). “Wilders understands that culture and demographics are our destiny,” the Republican congressman [wrote](http://time.com/4699168/steve-king-supports-dutch-politician/). “We can’t restore our civilization with somebody else’s babies.”

The tweet was widely condemned for promoting white nationalism, but King [doubled down](http://time.com/4699397/rep-steve-king-twitter/) on his comment during an appearance on CNN, saying he “meant exactly what I said” and that he’d “like to see an America that’s so homogenous that we look a lot the same.”

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