Veteran journalist Carl Bernstein said Thursday that President Barack Obama has "made monkeys" out of the Tea Party, which he likened to the wing of the Democratic Party that once supported segregation.

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Bernstein, one-half of the Washington Post duo that helped bring down Richard Nixon, said on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" that Obama might actually be helping to moderate the Republican Party amid the "rejection of the Tea Party."

“It’s like the Democratic Party of segregation,” Bernstein said. “It’s the same thing. What the great contribution of Obama might be to help create a responsible Republican Party in the end ... what we're seeing now and the rejection of the Tea Party and the realization that you have to have a mainstream party. Obama has made monkeys out of this wedge that is now on the defensive.”

Watch the clip below:

(H/T: Mediaite)