U.S. President Barack Obama
U.S. President Barack Obama REUTERS

In a face-to-face meeting with Tea Party supporters Monday night in Iowa, President Barack Obama got served a scalding cuppa vitriol.

At a town hall event in Decorah, Iowa, local Tea Party activist Ryan Rhodes, stood up and shouted a question, asking the president how he can call for more civility when "your vice president is calling people like me, a Tea Party member, a 'terrorist,'" USA Today reported.

After taking another question from another town hall attendee, instead of immediately responding to Rhodes, Obama said he agrees that everyone should tone down their political rhetoric.

"Now, in fairness, since I've been called a socialist who wasn't born in this country, who is destroying America and taking away its freedoms because I passed a health care bill, I'm all for lowering the rhetoric," he said.

Earlier this month, Biden told CBS News that published reports that compared Tea Party-linked lawmakers to "terrorists" were "absolutely not true." Instead, the vice president explained, "What happened was there were some people who said they felt like they were being held hostage by terrorists. I never said that they were terrorists or weren't terrorists, I just let them vent."

Rhodes, and another not-taking-it critical town hall attendee, pressed Obama on the issue.

"When you're talking about civility, how is your vice president calling us terrorists?" Rhodes asked."

The president, referring to the debt ceiling debate, responded: "For us to be willing to take the economy to the brink was irresponsible."

The other town hall attendee, a woman, reminded Obama that Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano once said that right-wing extremists should be monitored. Obama replied, "That's true, Timothy McVeigh should be - you would agree with that."

After a little more tug of war, Obama told Rhodes: "It doesn't sound like you are interested in listening," and continued shaking hands with other Iowans in attendance.

Needless to say, crumpets were not served.