Art often imitates life, and for ‘The Good Wife’ star Chris Noth, that may be all too true.
In the hit CBS series Noth plays Peter Florrick, the Democratic Governor-elect of Illinois. Now, Noth is coming out swinging against Tea Party Republicans in real life.
“I think its gotta be the worst Congress since right before the Civil War. And I think rightly – who was it? Was it Carter or someone who called them a bunch of ‘confederates,’ ” Noth said during a Huffpost Live segment Wednesday evening. “I mean they practically are. Why don’t they just secede from the Union?” (It was actually New York Rep. Charlie Rangel who made that comment.)
On October 1, the first day of the government shutdown, Noth, who is also known for his work on “Law and Order,” “Law and Order: Criminal Intent,” and “Sex and the City,” tweeted that Republicans’ decision to allow the government to shut down over Obamacare funding was the “[h]ighest level of racism.”
Highest level of racism was showed yesterday when Republicans forced a shutdown of our government. Mostly because our President is black.
— Chris Noth (@RealNoth) October 1, 2013
Every Tea Party member should be horsewhipped.
— Chris Noth (@RealNoth) October 1, 2013
The TV star clarified his comments Wednesday on HuffPost Live, saying that Americans who oppose Obama and Obamacare are perhaps racist “without even knowing it.”
“I’m not saying that’s racist, but what is it in them that makes them react that way?” he pondered.
He went on to question whether Republican Rep. Joe Wilson’s infamous “You lie!” moment during Obama’s 2009 State of the Union address was fueled by racism, as well.
“I don’t think any other President has had someone stand up when he’s giving an address and say ‘you lie.’ Not just is it impolite, it’s the feeling that he feels he can do that – that he doesn’t have the respect for the office. Why doesn’t he have the respect for the office – for this man – as opposed to others?” Noth told the show’s black host.
But while the actions of Wilson and other conservatives are not overtly racist, there’s one that is, says Noth: the government shutdown.
Asked by the segment host, “So if President Obama is white do we have a government shutdown?” Noth replied: “Probably not. I don’t think they would have. I don’t believe it.”
“I mean, with these Tea Party guys maybe it was inevitable. But there is something about Obama that makes these people just intolerable. I consider them to be unAmerican. I do. Because they don’t care about the country. They care about their small constituents,” he opined.
“A long time ago John F. Kennedy said, ‘Ask not what your country can do,’ you know, ‘for you, but what you can do.’ It’s like turn that around. It’s like, it’s not about your constituents it’s about our country. You know, you don’t just work for your constituents, you work for the bigger picture. I find there’s not one of them that takes that into consideration.”
Watch the relevant portion of Noth’s interview below, courtesy of AOL.
