What will Peter King ultimately be remembered for?
The 14-term congressman, who represents part of Long Island, announced he'd be retiring from Congress at the end of his current term, the 20th Republican in the House of Representatives to do so.
He is often called a moderate Republican, having supported a ban on assault weapons. He also played a significant role in peace talks in Ireland. On Twitter, Sen. Chuck Schumer called him "principled."
Peter King stood head & shoulders above everyone else
— Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) November 11, 2019
He’s been principled & never let others push him away from his principles
He’s fiercely loved America, Long Island, and his Irish heritage and left a lasting mark on all 3
I will miss him in Congress & value his friendship https://t.co/GSXizZ2c5D
For many on the political left, however, King will be remembered for chairing congressional hearings on what he described as the radicalization of American Muslims. The 2011 hearings took place against a backdrop of rising anti-Muslim sentiment across the country, and prompted one writer on national security, Spencer Ackerman, to argue that "no legislator did more to demonize American Muslims" than King.
Just months earlier, the entire nation, it seemed, had taken sides on whether Park51, the so-called Ground Zero Mosque, was a testament to pluralism or a colossal affront to the victims of the September 11 attacks. But the activists at the heart of the opposition were not simply arguing about the location of a mosque; they claimed Muslims were actively working to undermine American society and governance.
Still, they were activists and figures on the political fringe. It was Rep. King who took those suspicions and elevated them to the halls of power.
Prior to his congressional hearings, King had argued there were too many mosques in America. He also repeated a supposition that over 80 percent of the nation's mosques were controlled by radical imams.
The hearings, he argued, were necessary to grapple with terrorism and the extent to which Muslims were willing to commit extremist acts. In 2010, a Pakistani American, Faisal Shahzad, had attempted a car bomb attack in Times Square. In 2009, Nidal Hasan shot 13 people dead at Fort Hood, Texas.
King claimed the nation needed to mount a more forceful defense against Al-Qaeda and its attempts to recruit American Muslims. He also soundly rejected the arguments of his critics that any congressional hearings needed to consider all forms of terrorism.
"There is no equivalency of threat between Al Qaeda and neo-Nazis, environmental extremists or other isolated madmen," he said at the hearing. "Only Al-Qaeda and its Islamist affiliates in this country are part of an international threat to our nation."
His witnesses included people whose family members had been radicalized, and others who wanted Islam to be reformed. Notably, he did not invite law enforcement officials to testify; he said he didn't want talking heads. It was Democrats who called upon Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca, who spoke at length about the cooperation of the Muslim community.
The hearings have been called Peter King's Witch Hunt. He was often compared to Sen. Joseph McCarthy. Little of substance emerged from the hearings. But in the years to come, it became more and more common for people in power to openly challenge the patriotism of Muslims. And some commentators argue that his hearing eventually led to the so-called Muslim travel ban under the Trump administration, and its refusal to admit refugees from Syria, among other measures.
King's office did not respond to a request for comment.
Listen to the full interview between WNYC's Jami Floyd and Arun Venugopal.