Here's the quote from the NYT interview, and a link to the NYT article.
Steve King:
“White nationalist, white supremacist, Western civilization — how did that language become offensive?” Mr. King said. “Why did I sit in classes teaching me about the merits of our history and our civilization?”
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/10/us/politics/steve-king-trump-immigration-wall.html
To the typical NYT reader, "white nationalist" and "white supremacist" mean "Nazi." The sign that King did not intend his words to have that meaning is the third term in his list, "Western civilization." While white supremacism and white nationalism were compatible with the Nazism, most of Western civilization definitely was not. 70-85 million people died to prove it.
King is not a Nazi or a racist. My guess is that King intended to say that he misses the days before "white" became a four letter word, when it was generally considered good to be proud of our nation. If so, he did a terrible job of saying it.
The left's outrage against King is, as usual, ridiculous. A fair interviewer would have immediately asked King to clarify his statement, but the NYT is not interested in fairness. The agenda always comes first.
However, I think the right has a valid complaint against King for not choosing his words more carefully. Gaffes lose elections. King's gaffe is now being used to smear ALL Republicans.
Spot on, and see my previous just above.