Gibbs calls conservative blogger's Census comments 'remarkably crazy'

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs on Tuesday ripped comments conservative blogger Erick Erickson made about threatening Census workers.

Erickson, who was recently hired as a CNN contributor, said last week on his Macon, Ga. radio show said that if workers seeking answers for the American Community Survey (ACS) came to his house, he would "Pull out my wife's shotgun and see how that little ACS twerp likes being scared at the door."

Asked if he had thoughts on protection for Census workers at the daily breifing on Tuesday, Gibbs called the comments "remarkable crazy remarks of somebody that would threaten somebody simply trying to ensure that they're adequately represented in this country."

Gibbs went on saying "These days, it never ceases to amaze you. And usually it's only trumped by what somebody will knowingly say tomorrow about where -- I think Lincoln who said better to be thought a fool than to open one's mouth and remove all doubt. 

The government has taken up a large public relations effort that encourages people to fill out the Census. 

The ACS is a broader poll of broader demographic information administered to a sample of the public.

Gibbs referenced a spot recorded by former Bush Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove that is targeted at conservatives who might not fill out the forms to protest the government.

"I think it's why somebody like Karl Rove, who obviously I and others in this administration have disagreed with for going on many years, understands that the lunacy of ripping up your census form or not sending it in," he said.

Many Republican members of Congress have expressed worry that GOP-leaning districts could be contracted if there is a Census revolt among conservatives. But Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) has advanced anti-Census rhetoric.

Erickson has said that his comment was "misconstrued" and was meant to reference ACS workers who he says have harassed people and threatened to take them to jail.

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