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GOP lawmakers back Scalise in supremacist flap

FILE - In this Nov. 18, 2014 file photo, House Majority Whip Steve Scalise of La., right, with House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy of Calif., left, and Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., speaks to reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington, following a House GOP caucus meeting. Scalise acknowledged that he once addressed a gathering of white supremacists. Scalise served in the Louisiana Legislature when he appeared at a 2002 convention of the European-American Unity and Rights Organization. Now he is the third-highest ranked House Republican in Washington. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File) FILE - In this Nov. 18, 2014 file photo, House Majority Whip Steve Scalise of La., right, with House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy of Calif., left, and Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., speaks to reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington, following a House GOP caucus meeting. Scalise acknowledged that he once addressed a gathering of white supremacists. Scalise served in the Louisiana Legislature when he appeared at a 2002 convention of the European-American Unity and Rights Organization. Now he is the third-highest ranked House Republican in Washington. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

By Associated Press January 4, 2015 1 min read

WASHINGTON (AP) – Republican lawmakers are defending the No. 3 House GOP leader over a speech have gave 12 years ago to a white supremacist group.

Rep. Steve Scalise (skuh-LEES’) of Louisiana says the speech was a mistake he now regrets. Party leaders, including House Speaker John Boehner, have backed him.

Several rank-and-file lawmakers are adding their support, including Utah’s Mia Love, the first black female Republican elected to the House.

Love tells ABC’s “This Week” that Scalise has shown humility and apologized, and should remain in leadership.

GOP leaders aim to put the controversy behind them when the new Republican-controlled Congress convenes Tuesday.

Scalise has condemned the group’s views and said that as a state legislator in 2002 he didn’t always know details of the groups he was speaking to.