McCarthy: I Never Told Steve King He Was “Exonerated”

The Washington Post reports:

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy refused to endorse Rep. Steve King in his primary election and shot down the Iowa Republican’s claim this week that he’d get back his committee assignments. King, who is facing a tough primary challenge in June, said during a candidate forum Monday that he and McCarthy (R-Calif.) had reached an agreement that the party leader would advocate for King to regain his seniority and committee seats, which he lost after making remarks widely seen as sympathetic to white nationalists.

“Congressman King’s comments cannot be exonerated and I never said that,” McCarthy said Friday, echoing a response his office gave the day before. McCarthy added that King will have the opportunity to make his case to the steering committee that decides committee assignments, but that he thought King “would get the same answer he got before.” King’s primary opponents have highlighted his absence on committees as evidence that King has become powerless and ineffective in Washington.