No.
They interviewed him -- and posted the article at this specific point in time -- because they want to turn the government closure narrative from an issue of border security to an issue of Republican racism. HE WALKED RIGHT INTO THIS HIT JOB.
I'm sure he's an honorable and decent man.
He also has some awful political instincts.
This whole episode reminds me of one particular incident in the whole Roy Moore debacle back in 2017. Sean Hannity had him on his radio show in the immediate aftermath of the various allegations against him, and Moore proceeded to fumble his way through the most awful and politically damaging response he possibly could have given. His political career ended over the course of about five minutes.
They have been after King for many years. Yes, they wanted to link King and Trump not only on the wall, but also, on his immigration policies. King has been championing these policies long before Trump ever contemplated running for President. The NYT tried to nail King on his opposition to DACA many times.
He also has some awful political instincts.
Elected nine times and his immigration polices were adopted by Trump who used it to win in 2016. King's political instincts were right on the mark and many more Reps could have been elected if they understood how to use immigration as a winning issue.
This whole episode reminds me of one particular incident in the whole Roy Moore debacle back in 2017. Sean Hannity had him on his radio show in the immediate aftermath of the various allegations against him, and Moore proceeded to fumble his way through the most awful and politically damaging response he possibly could have given. His political career ended over the course of about five minutes.
Don't forget that the interview was in the aftermath of a huge, coordinated effort by the Dems and the media to take Jones down. Investigations are now underway to examine how the Dems used voter harvesting in Alabama to defeat Moore. They used the same tactics in CA.