Yahoo News reports Democratic firebrand and Florida congressman Alan Grayson stirred up a Tea Party hornet’s nest when he told Al Sharpton on MSNBC that the Tea Party movement is really about as popular as famous white supremacist group the Ku Klux Klan.

In the interview, Grayson describes how he believes ordinary Americans are angry and fed up with the Tea Party’s tactics. “They come to the President saying, ‘If you don’t let us steal your car, then, we are going to burn down your house,'” Grayson said, referring to the Tea Party caucus.

Far from slinking into the shadows like a typical Democrat, Grayson embraced and continued the controversy, following his comments with a logo he sent out attached to a fundraising email:

[Image from Alan Grayson’s Emails]

The Roll Call noted the National Republican Congressional Committee spokesperson Matt Gorman saying “There’s no excuse for the hateful words and imagery used by Congressman Grayson. House Democrats should swiftly and strongly condemn him and return the money he has raised for them. This hate-filled rhetoric has Americans fed up with Washington.”

Grayson responded to these allegations in a statement, arguing that the Tea Party was responsible for more negativity than he could possibly create. “Tea Party members have circulated countless altered pictures depicting President Obama and the First Lady as monkeys. Tea Party members also called my fellow Member of Congress, civil rights hero John Lewis, a ‘n***ger,’ and Rep. Barney Frank a ‘faggot,’” Grayson wrote.

“One could go on and on, because there is overwhelming evidence that the Tea Party is the home of bigotry and discrimination in America today, just as the KKK was for an earlier generation,” he continued. “If the shoe fits, wear it.”

The transcript of Grayson’s interview with Sharpton is available here on Grayson’s website.

[main image via an MSNBC interview with Grayson]