Rep. Steve Cohen: tea partiers are the ‘domestic enemies’ of the U.S. we took oath to defend against

On Saturday morning, Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.) declared that Republican tea partiers in Washington are the “domestic enemies” of the United States he swore to defend the country against in his oath of office.

Cohen’s remarks come in response to the heated debate surrounding the government shutdown. While the shutdown has ended, the issues behind the shutdown remain unresolved.

During his appearance on MSNBC’s “Up with Steve Kornacki” on Saturday morning, Cohen called his colleagues “rabid” and “sophomoric,” among other things.

“If we look ahead to the immediate future, these next few months, these two new deadlines that are now sort of on the calendar, do you think things will play out differently in the next round of budget negotiations, in the next round, when it comes to funding the government?” Kornacki asked Cohen. “Do you think the Republicans will have a different posture this time?”

“You know, you’d think they would,” Cohen said. “If a child puts its finger on a burner, they’re not likely to go to that burner again, but I’m not sure if some of these people don’t like the heat.”

“They seemed to enjoy shutting down the government, they reveled in it. They got a lot of energy out of it,” he added.

Cohen’s rhetoric became even more heated.

“A lot of those members are rabid,” he said of House Republicans. “They’re sophomoric in terms of Congress.”

Speaking of his fellow members of Congress, Cohen said, “they think they’re some kind of guerrillas there to strike a blow for freedom. I think they’ll try to pull this off again.”

However, by far the most interesting of all of Cohen’s statements came when he declared that Republicans with Tea Party leanings are actually domestic enemies.

“We [meaning U.S. Representatives] take an oath to support the country against all enemies foreign and domestic, and these are the domestic enemies,” Cohen said.

This kind of leap really shouldn’t be all that shocking coming from Cohen.

After all, this is the same man who previously compared his opponents in Washington’s talking points on healthcare to Nazi propaganda. Making a few leaps here and there clearly isn’t a problem of his.

The clip of Cohen’s interview with Kornacki can be seen below:

(H/T: Raw Story, Mediaite, The Blaze)