Actor Samuel L. Jackson: Tea Party Racism 'Pretty Obvious'

October 5th, 2011 8:36 AM

New York magazine recently tracked down actor Samuel L. Jackson to show him the Rick Perry nearly-invisible-N-word "scoop" and then asked him if he agreed with Morgan Freeman that the Tea Party was racist. Of course, he said.

He also thought the Perry story was a political plus: "it's not going to hurt Perry's reputation in a whole lot of places, so it's not a big deal." New York magazine said What? He replied: "Are you serious? He's a Republican and this is America."

First, on the Tea Party:

 "It’s pretty obvious what they are," Jackson told us. "The division of the country is not about the government having too much power. I think everything right now is geared toward getting that guy out of office, whatever that means," he said, echoing Freeman. "It’s not politics. It is not economics. It all boils down to pretty much to race. It is a shame."

Here's New York's Perry exchange:

NEW YORK: I guess Herman Cain came out condemning it and he caught a bunch of backlash from other Republicans.

JACKSON: Well, that's just what they're going to do. But it's not going to hurt Perry's reputation in a whole lot of places, so it's not a big deal.

NEW YORK: You don't think so?

JACKSON: He'll be fine.

NEW YORK: You don't think he'll be affected by this scandal?

JACKSON: No! Are you serious? He's a Republican and this is America.

NEW YORK: Can you elaborate?

JACKSON: He'll actually gain respect from a lot of people that he didn't have respect from before. He'll be all right.