Rep. Peter “Pete” King (R-NY) announced Monday his retirement from Congress, after nearly thirty years of service in the House, citing the reason for his retirement as “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” with his family.
King has been known to be a firebrand conservative voice in the House, notably in his first term in Congress, where he went up against the radical Democrats of the time during the Whitewater investigation, which implicated Hillary Clinton in shady business dealings.
After being silenced in a committee from asking questions by Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA), telling King to “shut up,” King made congressional history, delivering a fiery speech on the House floor, proclaiming, “I want [Maxine Waters] to know that so long as I am on that committee and so long as I am in this House, she’s not going to tell me to shut up, she is not going to tell the American people to shut up, and I’m not going to stop until we get to the root of Whitewater.”
After his speech, Waters tried to silence him, claiming he “badgered” a witness, saying, “the day is over when men can badger and intimidate women.” King didn’t have any of it, and quickly another representative called the attention of the House speaker, demanding Waters’ words be taken down. After a dramatic exchange, where Waters continued her charade, claiming men were “silencing” her, ironically the person presiding over the House was a woman, demanding “The gentlelady from California must suspend!”
Years later, Waters would try again to silence people and encourage harassment, specifically of Trump Administration officials, yelling at a rally, “And if you see anybody from that Cabinet in a restaurant, in a department store, at a gasoline station, you get out and you create a crowd. And you push back on them. And you tell them they’re not welcome anymore, anywhere.”
Throughout King’s years in Congress, he has been a fighter for his beliefs, even if they differ from his party (and the Constitution), most notably on gun control, which he supports.
Despite this, he has been a consistent voice in the House, keeping radical liberals at bay, including those such as Maine Waters and socialist Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. King blasted AOC for killing thousands of New York jobs, saying “If Joe Crowley was still the congressman, it wouldn’t have happened.”
Although he differs from Republicans on gun control, King will most likely be missed for his no-nonsense, politically incorrect rhetoric and his passion for fighting for his constituents.
Pingback: Schumer thanks retiring GOP Rep. Peter King—Dems lose it, demand he ‘be removed’ - The Daily Trumplican