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(The Hill) — Outspoken Republican Rep. Louis Gohmert (Texas) blasted President Obama on Tuesday night for riding around the country in a “Darth Vader bus.”

Obama has used his three-day bus tour through the Midwest as an opportunity to criticize Congress for what he calls putting party ahead of country — for example, in the protracted negotiations over the debt ceiling.

Although Gohmert said the government needs to get “out of the way” to fix America’s problems, he slammed Obama for promoting tax hikes on the wealthy while on his tour and firing crowds up with what Gohmert called “hateful rhetoric.”

“He’s out there acting like the evil emperor,” Gohmert told Fox Business network’s Lou Dobbs, continuing the “Star Wars” theme by comparing the president’s behavior on his bus tour to that of the evil Emperor Palpatine in the sci-fi movie series.

“The guy has got to lighten up,” Gohmert said of Obama. “[He’s] saying, ‘Allow the hatred to flow through your veins, hate your neighbor. If you see they have something, then you ought to want it. If you see they’re paying taxes and they’ve got too much money, you ought to take it.’ We need love and affection coming around this country, not that kind of hateful rhetoric.”