Morgan Freeman
Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick said he doesn't know if he shares actor Morgan Freeman's belief that the Tea Party's opposition to President Barack Obama is a "racist thing." Reuters

Academy Award winner Morgan Freeman has some very strong opinions about racism and the Tea Party. He told CNN on the Piers Morgan Tonight show that racism in America had taken a turn for the worse since President Obama took office. He also said that the Tea Party's anti-Obama stance is racist, reports the Huffington Post.

Talking about the Tea Party which is a right-wing arm of the Republican party, Freeman told Piers Morgan, Their stated policy, publicly stated, is to do whatever it takes to see to it that Obama only serves one term. What's, what does that, what underlines that? 'Screw the country. We're going to whatever we do to get this black man, we can, we're going to do whatever we can to get this black man outta here.'

When Piers asked Freeman if it in fact was a racist thing or just a political thing, Morgan insisted that it was a racist thing.

He also expressed concern over the increasing influence of the Tea Party, which he believes to be indicative of the acrimony prevalent in the nation.

Well, it just shows the weak, dark, underside of America, he said. We're supposed to be better than that. We really are. That's, that's why all those people were in tears when Obama was elected president. Ah, look at what we are. Look at how, this is America. You know? And then it just sort of started turning because these people surfaced like stirring up muddy water.

While Freeman admitted that he was a little disappointed that Obama was not more aggressive against the right wing, he also said that he understood that Obama wanted to hold on to his promise to be the president of all the people.

Freeman, who played Nelson Mandela in the film Invictus, backed Obama during his presidential campaign.

Obama's approval rating has been on a downward spiral following the debt talks and a faltering economy in the United States.