Rep. Steve King took to Twitter on Tuesday to complain about the president's decision to invite a "deportable" immigrant to occupy the coveted seat next to first lady Michelle Obama during the State of the Union address, saying it was a violation of the "rule of law."
The Iowa Republican, who has been quite vocal in his opposition to President Barack Obama's actions on immigration,
took to Twitter hours before the speech to complain that the president was breaking the law by inviting 20-year-old Texan Ana Zamora to the speech,
reports Politico.
Zamora, a Dallas student, was invited to sit with Michelle Obama during the speech after she wrote the White House to thank the president for his executive action in November granting legal status to her undocumented parents, who are a construction worker and a small business owner.
In addition, Zamora is a "dreamer," or an immigrant brought to the United States at a young age, who benefited from Obama's executive action that granted her and thousands of others legal status that includes the possibility of obtaining work permits.
By saying in his Tweet that he'd sit with Alito, King was likely referring to the 2010 State of the Union address, when Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito was seen mouthing the words "not true" when Obama complained about the court's decision on campaign finance laws, calling it a reversal of "a century of law to open the floodgates for special interests," reports Politico.
King would not back down from his "deportable" comment Tuesday night, and told reporters to "shake it off" about his tweet.
"The futility of language emerges on Twitter," King said, who went on to blame Obama for breaking the "rule of law."
"Why isn't the president taking heat for what he's doing to the rule of law?" the Iowa lawmaker told reporters. "He's going to make another promise that he's going to violate the Constitution tonight. At least one."
King said his comments would not impact his appearance at the "Iowa Freedom Summit" on Jan. 24 for potential GOP candidates eyeing the 2016 race.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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