Wayne Swan, Australia’s deputy Prime Minister, isn’t a fan of the Republican Party.

Swan said that the biggest threat to the United States economy are all of the “cranks and crazies” in the GOP.

Swan said:

“Let’s be blunt and acknowledge the biggest threat to the world’s biggest economy are the cranks and crazies that have taken over a part of the Republican Party.”

According to the Huffington Post, it isn’t common for an Australian official to criticize or comment about a foreign government. Swan, who is also the country’s treasurer and finance minister of the Labor Party, was accused of peddling hate by his conservative opposition after he made his comments during a speech at a business forum.

Treasury spokesman Joe Hockey said:

“The Labor Party is peddling hatred and they’re got to stop … They hate the Republican Party. I’d like Wayne Swan to say something positive about someone somewhere.”

Prime Minister Julia Gillard, however, defended the comments, saying that the US economy effects the global economy.

Gillard said:

“What happens in the U.S. economy matters to the world economy and it matters to us … Wayne Swan was making that very common sense point today.”

Here’s a video from Swan’s speech.

Swan’s comments were called “inflamatory” by the opposition. The treasurer responded that it was “inflammatory to see a country default, and that was the point I made. That would have very serious implications for the global economy. That’s precisely what actually happened around 12 months ago.”

Wayne Swan, Australia’s Treasurer, Says ‘Cranks And Crazies’ Have Taken Over GOP [Video] is a post from: The Inquisitr