Rangel: Tea Partiers are like "white crackers" who opposed civil rights

"Terrorists couldn’t do a better job than the Republicans are doing," he also said

Published August 2, 2013 5:00PM (EDT)

In a rather candid interview with The Daily Beast, Rep. Charlie Rangel compared the Tea Party to segregationists during the Civil Rights era, and described Republicans as essentially more effective terrorists.

Rangel, D-N.Y., was asked how to fight back against Tea Partiers, and he responded that the best way is to use the same tactics the Civil Rights movement did during the Jim Crow era. “It is the same group we faced in the South with those white crackers and the dogs and the police," he said. "They didn’t care about how they looked. It was just fierce indifference to human life that caused America to say enough is enough. ‘I don’t want to see it and I am not a part of it.’ What the hell! If you have to bomb little kids and send dogs out against human beings, give me a break.”

On House Republicans, Rangel also noted: “What is happening is sabotage. Terrorists couldn’t do a better job than the Republicans are doing."

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By Jillian Rayfield

Jillian Rayfield is an Assistant News Editor for Salon, focusing on politics. Follow her on Twitter at @jillrayfield or email her at jrayfield@salon.com.

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Charlie Rangel New York New York City Republicans Tea Party