The Emmy Award-winning actress accused the political party, media mogul Rupert Murdoch and his US network Fox News of poisoning the political atmosphere.
© PA Images / Lionel Cironneau/AP
© PA Images
"We're experiencing divisiveness in terms of our politics. Like, the Religious Right has identified themselves because of the propagandising and illiteracy of... I don't know - News Corp, maybe?" she told the Los Angeles Times Magazine.
Barkin continued: "They have identified themselves with this extremist, right-wing insurgency of a party - this Tea Party. They call it a grassroots movement. Grassroots?
"[They're] attached to the wrong ship. That just shows you the enormous - and don't misquote me here - the enormous success that has killed us in terms of Fox News."
Barkin further claimed that Fox News's support of the Tea Party has led to a total loss of objectivity when reporting the headlines.
"The blatant lying that passes itself off as journalism - I don't even need to get there to go mental. Can you imagine a legitimate newsperson - Walter Cronkite, Dan Rather, Tom Brokaw - just lying on the news?" the star asked.
Barkin added: "Let alone the entertainment factor - you know, news as entertainment. And because of the enormity of the money behind that machine, they have convinced this ever-growing group of really struggling, working-class people, that these f**kers can somehow, in some way, represent them.
"They do not. I mean, let's not even start, because that'll take up a whole month if I go down that road."
Barkin is co-starring with Demi Moore and Kate Bosworth in the drama Another Happy Day, which is expected to be released in the coming months.
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Watch a trailer for Another Happy Day below:
