During a campaign event last night in New York City former president Bill Clinton took a shot at Rep. Allen West (R-FL). The freshmen member of Congress and Tea Party favorite was scolded by members of the Congressional Black Caucus earlier this year when he lashed out at Democratic members of Congress calling them “Communists.” West was subsequently removed from a list of speakers set to attend an NAACP event soon after his inflammatory remarks. West has been an ardent critic of the president since he joined Congress in 2010. The Huffington Post reports:
WASHINGTON — Former President Bill Clinton made fun of Rep. Allen West (R-Fla.) Monday night for saying that dozens of House Democrats are members of the Communist party.
During a campaign event in New York City, Clinton praised President Barack Obama for stabilizing the economy and for health care reform, and noted that Obama has “had to get all this done with a House of Representatives that had one of the tea party members claim that 78 to 81 members of the Democratic caucus were members of the Communist party.” Clinton was referring to West, who declared in April that all members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus are communists.
Clinton lamented that “neither the Republican nominee nor other Republican leaders rebuked [West] for saying that,” according to a White House pool report. He also wondered aloud how West’s claims could even be true, given that it’s 2012.
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