I too have run into him on the streets of Manhattan more than once. (The first time because I wasn't paying attention and walked right smack into him when he was standing in the lobby of my workplace.) He's an incredibly nice guy, and he didn't have to be, since I'm about twice his size and nearly knocked him over. (I did the same thing to Regis once too. He's also classy. I gotta start looking where I'm walking, or at least start learning to bump into famous buxom twentysomething females instead of old men.)
It was just a dumb joke Tony made, even if it makes his true feelings obvious. I can live with it. We're never all going to agree politically, after all, and on the Dixie Chicks Hate Scale, Tony's little jab is about a 1.5 out of 10.