MSNBC Host: GOP Candidates Want to Go Back to a Time When 'Slavery Was Cool

The racism charges keep coming at the Republicans.

The same day actor Morgan Freeman said the Tea Party was "racist" in its attempts to get President Barack Obama out of office, an MSNBC anchor said the GOP presidential candidates would like to go back to a time when women couldn't vote and "slavery was cool."

Thomas Roberts' comments came in response to former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum's answer during Thursday's presidential debate about gay service members in the military. Santorum said the repeal of "don't ask, don't tell" amounted to "social experimentation" and, if elected, he would re-instate a similar policy.

"I get out of all of these things that many of these candidates would rather take legislation to build a time machine and go back in time to where, uh, we had, you know, no women voting, slavery was cool. I mean, it's just kind of ridiculous," Roberts told fellow MSNBC host Chris Hayes.

Hayes nodded slightly and murmured in agreement before adding, "I also thought was interesting about the response, he seemed to imply there is no sex in the armed forces. Basically saying, this is -- everybody should be -- "

"Nothing happens on shore leave," Roberts cut in.

"Nothing happens in the armed forces. And it was like, really? Have you talked to to any members who served?" Hayes said.

Roberts, who is openly gay, began the segment talking about the booing that was heard from the debate crowd after a gay service member asked the video question that Santorum was responding to. Roberts criticized the candidates for not denouncing the boos right when they occurred; Santorum later said he didn't hear them from the stage.

This isn't the first outrageous statement Roberts has uttered in the course of his duties at MSNBC. In July, he told a guest that Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann would like to "extinguish" gay people if she could.