He’s a thug . . . and he’s proud of it.

(ABC News) — Teamsters President James Hoffa makes no apology for taking on the Tea Party during a union labor celebration, claiming, “They declared war on us.”

In Detroit, before President Obama arrived for a Labor Day speech, Hoffa rallied the crowd, “We got to keep an eye on the battle that we face: The war on workers. And you see it everywhere, it is the Tea Party.”

“President Obama, this is your army,” Hoffa concluded to applause, his voice raising to a shout. “We are ready to march. Let’s take these sons of bitches out and give America back to an America where we belong,” he said, stepping back from the lectern where President Obama would speak less than an hour later.

“There’s a war on working Americans and we are getting sick and tired of it,” Hoffa told ABC News the next morning. “It’s absolutely a war. They declared war on us. We didn’t declare war on them. They’re the ones that introduced right to work in 14 states, and went after public employee bargaining rights in both Wisconsin and Ohio. We’re fighting them across the board. They want to roll the clock back to about 1900.” Hoffa said the war will be fought at the ballot box in 2012.

Tea Party Express chairwoman Amy Kremer issued a statement saying President Obama should reject the remarks, calling on him to “condemn this inappropriate and uncivil rhetoric, which has no place in the public forum.”

From yesterday — Hoffa: “No Regrets” Over Speech Calling For Violence Against Conservatives, This Is a “War”