Dem. Congressman Defends Email Linking Tea Party to the KKK: 'If the Shoe Fits, Wear It

Congressman Alan Grayson (D-Fla.) in a statement provided to TheBlaze Tuesday defended a campaign email linking the Tea Party to the Ku Klux Klan.

“Regarding the image that the campaign circulated, members of the Tea Party have engaged in relentless racist attacks against our African-American President,” the statement reads.

“For example, when the President visited my home of Orlando, Tea Party protesters shouted ‘Kenyan Go Home.’ Other examples include Tea Party chants of ‘Bye Bye, Blackbird,’ and Tea Party posters saying ‘Obama’s Plan: White Slavery,’ ‘Imam Obama Wants to Ban Pork’ and ‘The Zoo Has An African Lion, and the White House Has a Lyin’ African,’” the statement adds.

The congressman’s office did not immediately respond to requests for documented examples of Tea Party leaders leading these chants. His office did, however, accuse the Tea Party of circulating images including the following:

Image provided to TheBlaze via Rep. Grayson’s office

“Tea Party members also have persisted in falsely characterizing the President as Kenyan and Moslem, despite all evidence, in order to disparage him,” the statement continues.

“Tea Party members have circulated countless altered pictures depicting President Obama and the First Lady as monkeys. Tea Party members also called my fellow Member of Congress, civil rights hero John Lewis, a ‘n***ger,’ and Rep. Barney Frank a ‘fa**ot.’”

An email sent Monday by Grayson for Congress accused the Tea Party of being “no more popular than the [Ku Klux] Klan.” The email also included an image, captioned “Now you know what the ‘T’ stands for,” showing Klan members burning a cross:

Image source: @davelevinthal

Grayson’s Tuesday statement to TheBlaze continues:

More generally, the leader of the Texas Tea Party displayed a poster saying “Congress=Slave Owner, Taxpayer=[Ni**ar].”  Tea Party Members of Congress have referred to Hispanics as “wetbacks,” and having “cantaloupe-sized calves” from picking fruit.

Tea Party candidates, including my opponent in the last election, have endorsed forcing Hispanics to speak English.

“One could go on and on, because there is overwhelming evidence that the Tea Party is the home of bigotry and discrimination in America today, just as the KKK was for an earlier generation,” the statement concludes.

“If the shoe fits, wear it.”

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This post has been updated.

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