THE GOOD WIFE's Chris Noth Says Tea Party Members Should be 'Horsewhipped' Following Government Shutdown

THE GOOD WIFE's Chris Noth, in an interview with HuffPost Live last week, spoke out against members of the Tea Party following a series of Tweets he sent on Oct. 13 - accusing members of Congress who instigated a government shutdown acted out of 'racism.'

Noth tweeted: "Highest level of racism was showed yesterday when Republicans forced a shutdown of our government. Mostly because our President is black."

And: "Every Tea Party member should be horsewhipped."

In the interview, as per Mediaite and News Busters, Noth says, "I think it's gotta be the worst Congress since right before the Civil War, and rightly, who was it? I think was it Carter? Someone called them a bunch of Confederates. I mean, they practically are. Why don't they just succeed from the Union at this point?"

Host Marc Lamont Hill said: "I spoke to the head of the DNC yesterday, Debbie Wasserman Schultz. She told me also that she thought it was personal toward the president. Do you really think this shutdown is race-driven and why?"

Noth confirmed Hill's notion, saying: "I think racism can being an unconscious knee-jerk reaction without being people even knowing it...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 feeling that he feels he can do that, that he doesn't have the respect for the office. Why doesn't he have respect for the office for this man, as opposed to others?

Photo by Walter McBride / Retna Ltd.