How much of the Hispanic vote was Mittens getting before? Let’s see how that holds up.

Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa), a conservative firebrand known for taking controversial positions on a variety of issues, picked up an endorsement from GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney on Friday, a move that drew a quick response from an Obama campaign seeking to paint its opponent as an advocate for antiquated policies.

Speaking at a campaign event in King’s 5th Congressional District, Romney excitedly expressed his support for the 5-term congressman.

“I’m looking here at Steve King,” Romney said, according to BuzzFeed. “He needs to be your Congressman again. I want him as my partner in Washington!”

So even if he wanted to, King had no where to backtrack on this since he double downed last night during a debate with Christie Vilsack.

VILSACK: Frankly, he’s been a bully, and he’s an embarrassment to the people of Iowa when he talks about immigrants as animals. If my mother were here she would say to Congressman King ‘show some decency.’

KING: …This American vigor that we have that comes from legal immigrants who came to this country with a dream — we get the cream of the crop of every donor civilization on the planet — and people that can take a compliment and turn it into an insult are not going to be constructive working across the isle. But that’s what that was, was a compliment. And everyone who was there that heard that knows that.

King’s original comment, first flagged by Salon’s Alex Seitz-Wald in May, was made during a town hall meeting in Pocahontas, Iowa. He told the audience that immigrants were like bird dogs: “You get the pick of the litter and you got yourself a pretty good bird dog. Well, we’ve got the pick of every donor civilization on the planet,” he said.