Rep. Steve King soaks in Iowa State Fair “antidote for Potomac fever”

DES MOINES – Rep. Steve King confirmed Friday that he is headed to South Carolina, but added that his visit to an early primary state it is not motivated by 2016 presidential aspirations.

King, a Kiron Republican who spent the day at the Iowa State Fair, told an Iowa radio audience that his trip has been in the work for “some months and shouldn't be taken as a signal of any kind” other than he believes it is time to take Iowa values to the rest of the country and move people to the conservative side of the political spectrum.

King, who earlier this year opted not to run for the open U.S. Senate seat in Iowa, said he planned to speak with cadets at The Citadel military college, attend a gathering of national conservative and business leaders in Charleston and enrich friendships in South Carolina – “not with any real strategy, however.”

Asked about presidential politics, King told WHO-AM farm broadcasters “I don't go to bed at night thinking about that nor get up in the morning thinking about it. So, you always have to say, ‘we'll see what happens,' but I'm not making plans in that direction.”

King, who has pushed hard-line positions in opposition to immigration reform, said President Obama has used executive edits to nullify federal enforcement to the point where efforts to combat illegal immigration has become a “catch and release” program.

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District congressman, who is back in his home state during a House summer recess, spent the day visiting various booths around the fairgrounds and sampling the fair cuisine, noting that “I'm here getting the antidote for Potomac fever, dealing with Iowans who tell me the truth.”

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