Iowa representative Steve King
U.S. Representative Steve King speaks to guests at the Iowa Freedom Summit on January 24, 2015 Scott Olson/Getty Images

Controversial Republican lawmaker Steve King has said he believes black and Hispanic people will "be fighting each other" before they outnumber white people.

It is the second time in as many days the Iowa congressman had made controversial comments about race.

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On 13 March, he came under fire for a tweet in support of Dutch far right politician Geert Wilders, which critics have branded "an open endorsement of white nationalism".

King quoted a tweet about Turkish-led protests in Rotterdam that descended into riots, which said Wilders was "right for over 10 years".

King defended his tweet early Monday morning (13 March) in an interview on CNN. "I meant exactly what I said," he said. "It's a clear message that we need to get our birth rates up or Europe will be entirely transformed within a half-century or a little more and Geert Wilders knows that."

And in his most recent divisive comment, King responded to a question by Iowa radio host Jan Mickelson, on the station 1040 WHO, who asked about comments made by Jorge Ramos on Fox News that white people would be in a minority by 2044.

King responded: "Jorge Ramos' stock in trade is identifying and trying to drive wedges between race.

"Race and ethnicity, I should say to be more correct. When you start accentuating the differences, then you start ending up with people that are at each other's throats," The Hill reported him saying.

"He's adding up Hispanics and blacks into what he predicts will be in greater numbers than whites in America. I will predict that Hispanics and the blacks will be fighting each other before that happens."

He also reiterated his feelings that Western culture should be protected from people whom he claimed wanted to destroy it.

"If we care about our stock, our country, our culture, our civilisation — we need to have enough babies to replace ourselves and hopefully grow," he added.

His comments have been slammed by some within the GOP, although this is not the first time he has made such inflammatory statements.