Sean Penn blasts 'racist' Tea Party: 'They want to lynch Barack Obama'

Sean Penn has expressed his belief that the conservative Tea Party's criticisms of US President Barack Obama are racist.

The actor suggested during an interview on Piers Morgan Tonight that the Tea Party oppose Obama simply because he's African-America.

Penn said: "You have what I call the 'get the N-word out of the White House' party, the Tea Party, this kind of sensibility, which is much more of a distraction. At the end of the day, there's a big bubble coming out of their head saying, 'You know, can we just lynch him?'"

The Oscar winner also said Obama must be open and honest with the American people about the problems facing the country if he hopes to get re-elected.

"I'd love to see what I've always wanted to see, somebody run as a one-term president and show me that people aren't stupid. They do care about each other," Penn explained. "When he does the right things and takes on the controversies, he's going to win the next election."

Penn recently met with revolutionaries in war-torn Libya and then visited protestors at Egypt's Tahrir Square as part of a Middle East trip.

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Watch Sean Penn talk about Occupy Wall Street below: