Mad Men creator dismisses Tagg Romney: Republicans should be thrilled

Speaking to CNN on Thursday, Mad Men creator Matthew Weiner dismissed concerns that his show unfairly attacked late Michigan governor George Romney.

A character on the popular AMC series, who was working for New York City's mayor John Lindsay, referred to Romney as a "clown." The brief remark sparked outrage among some conservatives, including Romney's grandson Tagg.

"First of all, there is not one moderate Republican who should not be thrilled at the archeology I have done on the Republican Party in this show," Weiner said. "There’s a whole bunch of very interested, fair minded, non-prejudiced, economically interested do-gooders that disappeared from the Republican Party. And I’ve basically brought their names up. And they should be grateful that anyone could even see that humane part of politics from that era.

"I'm not trying to like set up a paper tiger," he added. "I was fascinated by the fact that these people were so 'liberal' at least in their interest in other human beings and civil rights and taxes and lots of things."

Weiner noted that Romney and Lindsay were political rivals. He explained his portrayal of Romney was based on historical events, but said he was sorry that some interpreted it as a personal attack.

Watch video, uploaded to YouTube by CNN, below: