The Democratic congressman who compared the tea party to the Ku Klux Klan was anything but contrite on Tuesday.

In a fundraising email to supporters, Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL) said that the popularity of the conservative movement is on par with the KKK.

“At this point, the tea party is no more popular than the Klan,” Grayson wrote in the email.

The line has been roundly condemned by Republicans, but Grayson made it clear to Roll Call that he’s standing by the comparison.

“Tea Party members have circulated countless altered pictures depicting President Obama and the First Lady as monkeys. Tea Party members also called my fellow Member of Congress, civil rights hero John Lewis, a ‘n***ger,’ and Rep. Barney Frank a ‘faggot,’” Grayson said in a written statement.

“One could go on and on, because there is overwhelming evidence that the Tea Party is the home of bigotry and discrimination in America today, just as the KKK was for an earlier generation. If the shoe fits, wear it.”