Here's What Iowa Congressman Steve King Really Thinks of 7 Likely GOP 2016ers
— -- As a congressman from Iowa, Republican Steve King will be in a unique position to have his say in 2016 presidential politics.
While the outspoken conservative says he’s not picking favorites among the crop of likely Republican candidates just yet, ABC News’ Jeff Zeleny got an early glimpse at King’s 2016 thinking by asking him to offer one-word descriptions of some of the likely Republican candidates.
Here's the exchange between Zeleny and King.
Jeff Zeleny: So we're going to go through a little bit of a lightning round here. [What’s] the first word that comes to your mind to describe this list of people. Mitt Romney.
Steve King: I have to think about that a little bit -- consummate businessman.
Zeleny: Okay, that's two words but I'll take it. Marco Rubio.
King: American exceptionalism. Two words again.
Zeleny: Rick Santorum.
King: Faithful Catholic.
Zeleny: Ted Cruz.
King: Constitutionalist.
Zeleny: Jeb Bush.
King: Family success, generational family success.
Zeleny: Okay, that's three words. This is government expansion. Chris Christie.
King: Strong, bold and confident, if I'm going to three words here.
Zeleny: Final one here: Mike Huckabee.
King: I think it would be faithful pastor to America.
For a complete discussion of King’s take on the 2016 field, and to hear why he’s standing by his controversial labeling of undocumented immigrants as “deportables,” check out the full "Power Players" interview at Yahoo.
ABC News’ Tom Thornton and Ali Dukakis contributed to this report.
