House Speaker John Boehner says it was "deeply offensive and wrong" for fellow Republican Rep. Steve King to suggest many younger unauthorized immigrants are drug runners.
Boehner already had issued a written statement earlier in the week condemning King's comments, but at his weekly news conference Thursday he elevated his criticism and took the unusual step of calling King out by name.
Boehner said the Iowa Republican's comments don't reflect the values of the American people or the GOP.
King told a conservative news website that with respect to immigrants brought illegally to the U.S. as kids, "for every one who's a valedictorian, there's another 100 out there that weigh 130 pounds and they've got calves the size of cantaloupes because they're hauling 75 pounds of marijuana across the desert."
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