U.S. Rep Steve Cohen, D-Tenn., continued blasting the Tea Party movement during a “telephone town hall meeting” Tuesday evening.
On an Internet radio show two weeks ago, Rep. Cohen compared Tea Party followers to the Ku Klux Klan “without hoods and robes.” He added that the loosely affiliated conservative movement demonstrates an intolerant side of America that denies diversity.
He attempted to clarify his comments Tuesday, condemning a widely reported incident in which two black congressmen, John Lewis, D-Ga., and Emmanuel Cleaver, D-Mo., were spat upon and called “the N-word” during health care reform proceedings last month.
“Nobody from the Tea Party movement responded and said that was wrong,” Mr. Cohen said.
He also reacted to reports that Tea Party advocates denied the incidents happened since they were not recorded.