Lawmakers from both parties are defending the number-three House Republican leader over a speech he gave 12 years ago to a white supremacist group.
Congressman Steve Scalise — now House Majority Whip — 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.
New Orleans Democratic Congressman Cedric Richmond, who is black, says he’s worked with him on several issues and found Scalise doesn’t have a “racist bone in his body.”
GOP leaders hope to put the controversy behind them when the new Republican-controlled Congress convenes today.
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.
