Even Jeb Bush came out of the woodwork to rip Rep. Steve King for his anti-immigrant tweet

Two days before key elections in the Netherlands, a US congressman was under fire Monday for praising the far-right Dutch firebrand Geert Wilders and warning Europe would lose its culture if it continued welcoming immigrants.

In a weekend tweet, Republican lawmaker Steve King included a cartoon depicting the anti-Islam politician plugging a hole in a dyke labeled "Western civilization."

"Wilders understands that culture and demographics are our destiny. We can't restore our civilization with somebody else's babies," wrote the far-right lawmaker from Iowa.

A favorite of the ultra-conservative grassroots Tea Party movement, King has repeatedly spoken out against immigration.

His tweet earned sharp rebukes from fellow Republicans, including from House Republican Carlos Curbelo, born to Cuban exiles who fled Fidel Castro's regime.

"What exactly do you mean? Do I qualify as 'somebody else's baby?' #concernedGOPcolleague," Curbelo tweeted.

Jeb Bush, a 2016 presidential candidate, joined in tweeting that "The sentiment expressed by Steve King doesn't reflect our shared history or values."

"America is a nation of immigrants," wrote Bush, son and brother to two US presidents and a former Florida governor. 

"Get a clue," steamed Florida congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen on Twitter. "Diversity is our strength."

For years, King has expressed anti-immigrant sentiments. In 2013, he claimed that many people who illegally cross from Mexico into the United States have "calves the size of cantaloupes" because they were hauling drugs through the desert.

Pressed to explain his tweet on Monday, he told CNN: "Well, of course, I meant exactly what I said."

While insisting he was not racist, he said: "I'd like to see an America that's so homogenous that we look a lot the same."

He called for higher birth rates in Europe, warning the continent would otherwise "be entirely transformed within a half century or a little more."

King's post was met with euphoric support by white nationalist David Duke, a former Ku Klux Klan grand wizard, who tweeted "GOD BLESS STEVE KING!!!"

Wednesday's Dutch election is being closely watched as a bellwether of the rise of populist and far-right parties ahead of other national votes in Europe later this year.