Controversial Republican congressman Steve King set off yet another firestorm on Wednesday when he questioned whether the world's human population would exist if rape and incest did not occur throughout history.
King, a fierce conservative who is an avid supporter of President Donald Trump, was defending his opposition to abortion in all cases, including rape and incest, during an address to the Westside Conservative Club in his home state of Iowa.
"What if we went back through all the family trees and just pulled those people out that were products of rape or incest? Would there be any population of the world left if we did that?" King said in a video of his comments posted by the Des Moines Register.
"Considering all the wars and all the rape and pillage that's taken place... I know I can't certify that I'm not part of a product of that," he added.
"I'd like to think that every one of the lives of us are as precious as any other life."