Rep. Allen West: Obama a 'Low-Level, Socialist Agitator'

This is a rush transcript from "On the Record," April 21, 2011. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

GRETA VAN SUSTEREN, FOX NEWS HOST: Did you hear what Congressman Allen West said? Well, hold onto your seat. He compared President Obama to a dictator. The congressman made those remarks during a recent appearance on "The Laura Ingraham Show." And to be specific, Congressman West said President Obama showed, quote, "third world dictator-like arrogance" during his budget speech. So what did he mean? Let's ask him.

Congressman Allen West of Florida joins us. Good evening, Congressman. Those are pretty tough words for the president. I know you have a lot of passion about your views, but the words -- any -- you want a do-over on that, or you stand by those words?

REP. ALLEN WEST, R-FLA.: Good evening. Happy Easter, Greta. And I do stand by those words. And perhaps one of the things that many people need to understand is that the truth needs to be said. When I go around and I talk to people down here in my district and we get phone calls, that speech that was given last week Wednesday was absolutely beneath the statesmanship or the atmosphere or the aura of the personality that the president should show.

I am sick and tired of this class warfare, this Marxist, demagogic rhetoric that is coming from the President of the United States of America. It is not helpful for this country and it's not going to move the ball forward as far as rectifying the economic situation in our country. And I'm not going to back away from telling what the truth is.

VAN SUSTEREN: Well, I guess that -- I mean, you know, I understand your passion. I understand your politics. You've certainly -- you know, you've been a very passionate...

WEST: Greta -- Greta, it's not -- it's not -- it's not about passion. But it's not about passion.

VAN SUSTEREN: Oh, but I mean, I...

WEST: And I think it's...

VAN SUSTEREN: ... also your hard work...

WEST: ... about time that people stop playing the games.

VAN SUSTEREN: And -- and I...

WEST: We have to stop playing games.

VAN SUSTEREN: And I'm in total agreement. I'm just curious whether calling him a low-level socialist agitator or to -- or to compare him -- to use a reference of Reverend Jeremiah Wright that the chickens are coming home to roast -- if that really is helpful to advance, you know, your -- you know, the great depth of your -- of your conviction.

WEST: There's a great depth to my conviction, and part of my conviction is telling the truth. I don't think it's very presidential when Barack Hussein Obama refers to my colleague, Paul Ryan, as a simple little accountant, either. So I think that when you look at what a community organizer is turning out to be, it does seem to be like a low-level socialist agitator.

When you look at the economic situation that we have, to have a gentleman in the White House that really has never run any type of business or organization -- I myself, as a company commander, as a battalion executive officer and as a battalion commander, have many time had to balance budgets and take care of units and operate a budget.

So I think it does come back to experience. And when I talk about the chickens coming home to roost -- when we continue to play this election cycle "American Idol" in the United States of America, this is what we end up with, with someone that really is not in tune with the American people.

Look, Greta, the bottom line is this. The people in North Carolina who suffered all of these tornadoes are suffering, but yet this president is out campaigning and raising money out in California and what have you. This is not how we're going to turn the ship around in our country.

VAN SUSTEREN: And you know, I think those are -- you know, that's a fair -- you know, fair, you know, criticism of the president, using the North Carolina, and also, you know, whether or not he has the experience, if he -- you know, you make the lemonade stand reference, whether he has experience to run it. You know, and I mean, I think that that's fair. It was the more sort of the -- the sort of ratcheted-up rhetoric, calling him a low-level -- low-level socialist agitator.

But I'm curious. You made the Jeremiah Wright reference, and I'm curious what you think. He -- the president has said -- and this is a little bit off the radar screen, but you mentioned it -- Jeremiah Wright. He said that he didn't know that Reverend Wright was making those comments that many of us thought were appalling and I think most people thought were appalling. Do you think he was telling truth on that, or did he know?

WEST: Look, you know, I've been going to church for quite some time in my life. And I think if you sit up in a certain church for 20 years, if you say that the gentleman is your spiritual mentor, he's the one that baptized your children, either you're in a very deep REM-operated sleep or you're not paying attention. But if you're there in that church and you hear those words, either there's a conviction or either there's a belief or either you're just lying about how you feel.

VAN SUSTEREN: Congressman, thank you. And of course, every time I see you, I think of that $30 million-plus that you saved all of us, that bill you passed unanimous, got all the Republicans and the Democrats to vote on it, and the $20 million was just for starters on that. So thank you for that, sir.

WEST: Absolutely. And we have two more coming.

VAN SUSTEREN: Good! Well, you know, bring them on. We love those bills that find the waste and fraud. Thank you, sir.