The Drug Mule-Cantaloupe Crisis - NYTimes.com It was obviously not wise, let alone appropriate or correct, for Rep. Steve King to claim in an interview with Newsmax last week that the children of illegal immigrants were more likely to be drug mules than star pupils. "For every one who's a valedictorian, there's another 100 out there who weigh 130 pounds and they've got calves the size of cantaloupes because they're hauling 75 pounds of marijuana across the desert," he said. With demographers warning that the Republican Party cannot win national elections unless it improves its share of the non-white vote, and with the House in a frenzy over immigration reform, the last thing the G.O.P. needs is to confirm the stereotype that right-wing politicians are close-minded, insensitive and racist. John Boehner, at least, gets that. Earlier this week he issued a statement condemning Mr. King, and then, on Thursday, he called Mr. King's comments "deeply offensive and wrong." "I want to be clear, there's no place in this debate for hateful or ignorant comments from elected officials," Mr. Boehner said at a news conference. What he said does not reflect the values of the American people or the Republican Party. That last bit is obviously for the voters to decide, and Mr. King's not helping. Instead of apologizing he dug in. "There are many, many young people coming across the border unlawfully who are smuggling drugs into the United States," Mr. King said on the House floor after Mr. Boehner's remarks. He also told reporters: "My comments are anything but ignorant. They may have been the best informed in the entire United States Congress.