The Tea Party movement is a fiscally-conservative socio-political movement that emerged in the United States in 2009 through a series of locally and nationally coordinated protests.^[1][2][3] The protests were partially in response to several Federal laws: the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008,^[4] the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009,^[5][6] Federal Reserve Transparency Act^[7] and a series of health care reform bills.^[8]

The name "Tea Party" is a reference to the Boston Tea Party of 1773—a protest by American colonists against various acts by the British Government which, among other things, attempted to establish a monopoly on the importation of tea into the colonies by giving a cut on re-importation tax imposed on the East India Company.^[9] Tea Party protests have invoked themes, images, and slogans similar to those used during the pre-revolutionary period in American history.^[10][11][12]

Background and history

The theme of the Boston Tea Party, an iconic event of American history, has long been used by anti-tax protesters.^[13][14][15] It was part of Tax Day protests held throughout the 1990s and earlier.^{[16][17][18][19]} More recently, the Libertarian theme of the "tea party" began with Republican Congressman Ron Paul supporters as a fund raising event during the 2008 presidential primaries to emphasize Paul's fiscal conservatism, which laid the groundwork for the modern-day Tea Party movement. ^{[20][21][22][23]}

On January 24, 2009, Trevor Leach and members of the Young Americans for Liberty in New York State, expressing a desire for a freer economy with less government intervention, held a protest against proposed new taxes on "non-diet sodas" in NY. Several of the protesters wore Native American headdresses, similar to the band of 18th century patriots who dumped tea in Boston Harbor to express outrage about British taxes, drawing parallels to the original Boston Tea Party.^[24]

First protest using tea bags

On January 19, 2009, stock-trader Graham Makohoniuk posted a casual invitation on the financial message board market-ticker.org to "Mail a tea bag to congress and to senate". ^[25][26] The idea to mail tea bags simultaneously on February 1, 2009 quickly caught on with others on the forum, some of whom reported being attracted to the inexpensive, easy way to reach "everyone that voted for the bailout."^[27] The idea spread among conservative blogs and email forwards where it found thousands of participants. This mass mailing has since been referred to as "the earliest known documentary record of the first national Tea Party protest." ^[25]

Early local protest events

The dominant theme seen at some of the earliest anti-stimulus protests was pork rather than tea.^[28] The term "porkulus" was coined by radio talk-show host Rush Limbaugh on his January 27, 2009, broadcast^[29] in reference to both the 2009 stimulus bill, which was just introduced to the House of Representatives the day before, as well as to pork barrel spending and earmarks.^[30] This proved very popular with conservative politicians and commentators,^[31] who began to unify in opposition to the September 2008 bailout package.

Competing claims have emerged over which protest was actually the first to organize. According to FreedomWorks state and federal campaigns director Brendan Steinhauser,^[32][33] activist Mary Rakovich^[34] was the organizer of a February 10, 2009 protest in Fort Myers, Florida, calling it the, "first protest of President Obama's administration that we know of."^[35] The protest however attracted less than a ten people and was focused mainly on the amount being spent on high definition television signals.^[36]

New York Times journalist Kate Zernike reported that leaders within the Tea Party credit Seattle blogger and conservative activist Keli Carender with organizing the first Tea Party on February 16th 2009, the day before President Obama signed the stimulus bill into law.^[37] The term "porkulus protest" instead of "Tea Party," however, was being used at the time.^[38] Carender said 120 people participated. "This was due to me spending the entire four days calling and emailing every person, think tank, policy center, university professors (that were sympathetic), etc. in town, and not stopping until the day came."^[39][40]

Carender also contacted conservative author and Fox News contributor, Michelle Malkin who then enthusiastically promoted the protest in several posts on her blog, saying that "There should be one of these in every town in America," and that she would be supplying the crowd with a symbolic meal of pulled pork. Malkin called for her readers to stage similar "porkulus" events in Denver on February 17 where President Obama planned to sign the stimulus bill into law.^[41][42][43]

Yet another protest, organized by a local conservative talk radio station KFYI was held in suburban Phoenix, Arizona on February 18, and brought 500 protesters to greet Obama as he gave his first public talk on the stimulus bill.^[44][45] By February 20, Michelle Malkin was using her nationally-syndicated column and television appearances to try and promote this string of protests as an emerging conservative movement, and continued to call for more.^[46] "There's something in the air," she wrote, "It's the smell of roasted pork."

First national Tea Party protests

On February 19, 2009,^[31] in a broadcast from the floor of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, CNBC Business News editor Rick Santelli criticized the government plan to refinance mortgages, which had just been announced the day before. He said that those plans were, "promoting bad behavior,"^[47] by, "subsidizing losers' mortgages." He suggested holding a tea party for traders to gather and dump the derivatives in the Chicago river on July 1.^[48][49][50] A number of the derivative traders around him cheered on his proposal, to the apparent amusement of the hosts in the studio. Video of Santelli's 'rant' went viral after it received a "red siren" headline on the news aggregation website, Drudge Report.^[51]

In response to Santelli, websites such as ChicagoTeaParty.com (registered in August 2008 by Chicago radio producer Zack Christenson) were live within twelve hours.^[11] About 10 hours after Santelli's remarks, reTeaParty.com was bought to coordinate Tea Parties scheduled for July 4 and, as of March 4, was reported to be receiving 11,000 visitors a day.^[11]

According to The New Yorker writer Ben McGrath^[31] and New York Times reporter Kate Zernike,^[38] this is where the movement was first inspired to coalesce under the collective banner of "Tea Party." By the next day, guests on Fox News had already begun to mention this new "Tea Party."^[52]

As reported by The Huffington Post, a Facebook page was created a day after "Santelli's Rant" by FreedomWorks, who called for simultaneous Tea Party protests across the country.^[53] Soon, the "Nationwide Chicago Tea Party" protest was coordinated across over 40 different cities for February 27, 2009, thus establishing the first national modern Tea Party protest.^[54][55]

Evolution of the "Teabagger" moniker

The use of "Teabagging" as a verb was seen early on in Tea Party protest signage at the first national Tea Party protest. Shortly after the idea of mailing tea bags to congress was first proposed, one of the participants used the slang term "teabagging" as a double entendre referring to a sexual act.^[56][25]

The term "Teabagger" was also being frequently used by members of the news media to describe the movement, many of whom seemed oblivious to its slang-based sexual connotation. This included mainstream outlets such as the Associated Press and PBS, as well as some of the conservative hosts on the Fox News channel.^[57][58][59] To some degree, this moniker may have been a nod to other recent burgeoning political movements with nicknames such as the birthers and truthers.

As the somewhat obscure slang sexual term became more well known in connection to the growing movement, others began intentionally using it as a pejorative term. As Jay Nordlinger of the National Review said, "conservatives started this... but others ran and ran with it." ^[60] MSNBC host Rachel Maddow frequently poked fun at the "hot teabagging action" going on at the protests.^[61]

While some protesters continue to embrace the term despite its slang connotations,^[60] it has become increasingly controversial, with most participants preferring to self-identify as "Tea Partier". As the controversy has spread, a number of people in the public sphere have been criticized for their continued use of the term, such as Bill Clinton and PBS Newshour host Gwen Ifill, who later apologized saying she was completely unaware of the slang-based sexual connotation. ^[60]

Tea Party symbol

The Gadsden Flag has become an adopted symbol of the American Tea Party movement.^[62][63] Tea Party activists have embraced the "Don't Tread on Me" flag and its message.^[64] Nationwide it serves as an alternative to the stars and stripes^[65] for Tea Party protesters upset at the current government yet still feeling patriotic. However it has been noted that using a Revolutionary War flag offers simultaneous and half-contradictory messages of a more-American-than-America conservatism and armed radicalism.^[66]

It was also seen being displayed by members of Congress at Tea Party rallies.^[67] Some lawmakers have dubbed it a political symbol due to the Tea Party connection,^[65] and the political nature of the Tea Party Patriots.^[68]

Public opinion polls and demographics

Several polls have been conducted on the demographics of the movement and to get an idea of what this loosely connected group of people believe and want to see happen. Though the various polls sometimes turn up slightly different results, they tend to show that the self-described Tea Party supporters are slightly more likely to be male, white, married, older than 45, more conservative than the general population, and are also likely to be more wealthy and have more education than the general population.^{[70][71][72][73][74][75]}

One notable exception to that finding is the Gallup poll, which found that other than gender, income and politics, self-described Tea Partiers were demographically similar to the population as a whole.^[76]

Political affiliation

When surveying supporters or participants of the Tea Party movement, polls have shown that they are significantly more likely to be registered Republican, have a favorable opinion of the Republican Party and an unfavorable opinion of the Democratic party.^[74][77] These polls also found that just 7% approve of how President Obama is doing his job compared to 50% (as of April, 2010) of the general public,^[77] and that roughly 77% of supporters voted for John McCain in 2008.^[73][74][75]

Possibly contrasting with the general view of Tea Party supporters as strict fiscal conservatives however, more than half (52%) of Tea Party supporters told pollsters for CBS/New York Times that they think their own "income taxes this year are fair."^[77] Additionally, a Bloomberg News poll found that Tea Partiers are not against increased government action in all cases. Seventy percent want the federal government to aid in job creation. Also, nearly half think the government should limit Wall Street executive bonuses, according to the nationwide poll which was conducted between March 19 and March 22, 2010.^[78]

Opinions of the Tea Party supporters

Various polls have also probed Tea Party supporters for their views on a variety of political and controversial issues. A University of Washington poll of 1,695 registered voters in the State of Washington reported that 73% of Tea Party supporters disapprove of President Obama's policy of engaging with Muslim countries, 88% approve of the controversial immigration law recently enacted in Arizona, 82% do not believe that gay and lesbian couples should have the legal right to marry, and that about 52% believed that "lesbians and gays have too much political power."^[79][80]

Polls have also examined Tea Party supporters' views on race and racial politics. The University of Washington poll of registered voters in Washington State found that 74% of Tea Party supporters agreed with the statement "[w]hile equal opportunity for blacks and minorities to succeed is important, it's not really the government's job to guarantee it," while a CBS/New York Times poll found that 25% think that the administration favors blacks over whites — compared with just 11% of the general public and are more likely to believe President Obama was born outside the United States.^[77][79][80] A seven state study conducted from the University of Washington found that Tea Party movement supporters within those states were "more likely to be racially resentful" than the population as a whole, even when controlling for partisanship and ideology.^[81][82] Of white poll respondents who strongly approve of the Tea Party, 35% believe that blacks are hardworking, compared to 55% of those strongly opposed to the Tea Party, and 40% of all respondents.^[83][84]

Tea Party political agenda

Because the Tea Party is not associated with any single organization, it can often be difficult to explicitly define its agenda. Though self-identified Tea Partiers seem to share a general support for economically conservative ideas and reduced government spending, they often may differ greatly on the particulars, and rifts can sometimes develop between the traditional conservatives and the sometimes more socially-liberal libertarians. ^[85]

The Contract from America however offers an opportunity to see what agenda items many Tea Party protesters do support. Referencing the Republicans' 1994 Contract with America, which was credited for revitalizing the party in the Clinton era, this new contract was reportedly intended to be a product of fiscally-conservative voters rather than a product of a political party.

The contract's founder, Ryan Hecker told The New York Times, "Hundreds of thousands of people voted for their favorite principles online to create the Contract as an open-sourced platform for the Tea Party movement." The new list, he said, was “created from the bottom up. It was not crafted in Washington with the help of pollsters."^[86] However, the Washington conservative group FreedomWorks, led by former House Republican Leader Dick Armey, did have a hand in selecting the final 10 proposals. ^[87]

The Contract lists 10 agenda items that it encourages congressional candidates to follow:^[88][89]

1. Identify constitutionality of every new law: Require each bill to identify the specific provision of the Constitution that gives Congress the power to do what the bill does. (82.03%)
2. Reject emissions trading: Stop the "cap and trade" administrative approach used to control pollution by providing economic incentives for achieving reductions in the emissions of pollutants. (72.20%)
3. Demand a balanced federal budget: Begin the Constitutional amendment process to require a balanced budget with a two-thirds majority needed for any tax modification. (69.69%)
4. Simplify the tax system: Adopt a simple and fair single-rate tax system by scrapping the internal revenue code and replacing it with one that is no longer than 4,543 words – the length of the original Constitution. (64.9%)
5. Audit federal government agencies for constitutionality: Create a Blue Ribbon taskforce^{[clarification needed]} that engages in an audit of federal agencies and programs, assessing their Constitutionality, and identifying duplication, waste, ineffectiveness, and agencies and programs better left for the states or local authorities. (63.37%)
6. Limit annual growth in federal spending: Impose a statutory cap limiting the annual growth in total federal spending to the sum of the inflation rate plus the percentage of population growth. (56.57%)
7. Repeal the health care legislation passed on March 23, 2010: Defund, repeal and replace the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. (56.39%)
8. Pass an 'All-of-the-Above' Energy Policy: Authorize the exploration of additional energy reserves to reduce American dependence on foreign energy sources and reduce regulatory barriers to all other forms of energy creation. (55.5%)
9. Reduce Earmarks: Place a moratorium on all earmarks until the budget is balanced, and then require a 2/3 majority to pass any earmark. (55.47%)
10. Reduce Taxes: Permanently repeal all recent tax increases, and extend permanently the George W. Bush temporary reductions in income tax, capital gains tax and estate taxes, currently scheduled to end in 2011. (53.38%)

No Democrats have signed onto the proposal, and the contract has also met resistance from some Republicans who have instead created the "Commitment to America." Brendan Buck, a spokesman for that agenda explained that the contract is too narrow in focus, and not exactly what the Republican party would include in its own top-10 list of priorities. ^[90]

Political responses

2010 election cycle

On June 8, 2010, in the Super Tuesday primary election, several tea party backed candidates won including:

• Sharron Angle won the Nevada U.S. Senate Republican primary race and will face Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid in November. Angle beat out the Republican favorite, Sue Lowden, the one-time front runner.^[91]
• Tea party backed candidate, Nikki Haley, a 38-year-old Indian-American state representative, beat out three prominent Republican rivals in the South Carolina primary race for Governor capturing 49 percent of the vote.^[92]
• In Maine, tea party backed candidate Paul LePage won the GOP primary for Governor.^[93]
• In New Jersey, Tea Party approved candidate Anna C. Little defeated Republican "establishment" candidate Diane Gooch in the Republican congressional primary for the 6th Congressional District on June 8, 2010.^[94]
• Rand Paul from the conservative Tea Party movement, won the Super Tuesday GOP Senate primary in Kentucky. Mr. Paul, the son of Republican Congressman Ron Paul, comfortably beat Republican establishment favorite Trey Grayson with 60% of the vote.^[95]
• In the Republican primary in South Dakota for the At Large Congressional seat, Kristi Noem, a Tea Party approved candidate, defeated incumbent Secretary of State Chris Nelson and state representative Blake Curd.^[96]
• In the South Carolina First Congressional district Republican primary, Tim Scott, who was specifically endorsed by the Tea Party movement,^[97] defeated two "establishment" Republicans with long family histories in the Republican party.^[98][99]

Tea Party candidates who lost their primary bids on Super Tuesday included, in California, Chuck DeVore, who lost the GOP senate primary to Carly Fiorina who had backing from prominent Tea Party advocate, Sarah Palin.^[100]

On May 8, 2010, U.S. Senator Bob Bennett (R – Utah) lost his bid to be renominated by his party for another term in the Senate. His defeat is seen as a victory for the Tea Party Movement whose supporters were against Bennett’s return.^{[101][102][103]}

Support from the local tea party in Boston helped make U.S. Senator from Massachusetts Scott Brown a contender in what turned out to be an upset election in January, 2010.^[104] Many politicians in the 2010 election cycle are riding on grassroots support from the Tea Party movement, including Republican Pennsylvania gubernatorial contender Sam Rohrer, Texas gubernatorial contender Debra Medina and US Senate candidate Rand Paul.^{[105][106][107]}

In July, 2010, Rep. Michele Bachmann formed the House Tea Party Caucus. This congressional caucus, which Bachmann chairs, will be devoted to the Tea Party's stated principles of "fiscal responsibility, adherence to the Constitution, and limited government".^[108]

Obama administration responses

On April 19, 2009, Senior White House Adviser David Axelrod, when asked about the Tea Party protests on CBS News, said "I think any time that you have severe economic conditions, there is always an element of disaffection that can mutate into something that’s unhealthy." He also noted, "The thing that bewilders me is this President just cut taxes for ninety five percent of the American people. So I think the tea bags should be directed elsewhere, because he certainly understands the burden that people face."^[109]

On April 29, 2009, Obama commented on the Tea Party protests publicly during a townhall meeting in Arnold, Missouri, saying: ". . .(when) you see folks waving tea bags around, let me just remind them that I am happy to have a serious conversation about how we are going to cut our health care costs down over the long term, how we're going to stabilize Social Security. . .We are going to have to tighten our belts, but we're going to have to do it in an intelligent way. And we've got to make sure that the people who are helped are working American families, and we're not suddenly saying that the way to do this is to eliminate programs that help ordinary people and give more tax cuts to the wealthy. We tried that formula for eight years, and it did not work, and I don't intend to go back to it."^[110]

On April 15, 2010, President Obama touted his administration's tax cuts, noting the passage of 25 different tax cuts over the past year, including tax cuts for 95% of working Americans. He then remarked, "So I’ve been a little amused over the last couple of days where people have been having these rallies about taxes. You would think they would be saying thank you. That’s what you’d think."^[111][112]

Commentaries on the movement

Matthew Continetti of The Weekly Standard has said: "There is no single Tea Party. The name is an umbrella that encompasses many different groups. Under this umbrella, you’ll find everyone from the woolly fringe to Ron Paul supporters, from Americans for Prosperity to religious conservatives, independents, and citizens who never have been active in politics before. The umbrella is gigantic."^[113]

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich's political activist group American Solutions supports the protests, saying on its website that they are "our chance to communicate our anger and opposition to the irresponsible policies of politicians in Washington who have failed to solve problems." Gingrich spoke at the New York City protest on April 15.^[114]

Dan Gerstein, a former Democratic Party political advisor, argued in Forbes that the protests could have tapped into real feelings of disillusionment by American moderates, but the protesters put forth too many incoherent messages.^[115]

Ned Ryun, President of American Majority, an organization that offers training for many Tea Party activists, believes this movement is not about political parties, stating, "It's very much anti-establishment at both parties....They don't care about party labels." He has also said that "I think we're getting to the point where you can truly say we're entering a post-party era. They aren't going to be necessarily wed to a certain party — they want to see leadership that reflects their values first.....They don't care what party you're in; they just want to know if you reflect their values — limited government, fixing the economy."^[116]

According to Arthur C. Brooks, president of the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank, America is locked in a culture war in which either America will continue to be an exceptional nation organized around the principles of free enterprise, limited government, a reliance on entrepreneurship and rewards determined by market forces, or America will move toward European-style statism grounded in expanding bureaucracies, a managed economy and large-scale income redistribution. Brooks states that while some have tried to dismiss the "tea party" demonstrations and the town hall protests as the work of extremists, ignorant backwoodsmen or agents of the health-care industry, this movement reveals much about the culture war that is underway, and it is not at all clear which side will prevail.^[117]

Allegations of media coverage bias

US News and World Report reported that the nature of the coverage of the protests has become part of the story.^[118] On CNN's Situation Room, journalist Howard Kurtz commented that "much of the media seems to have chosen sides." He says that Fox News portrayed the protests "as a big story, CNN as a modest story, and MSNBC as a great story to make fun of. And for most major newspapers, it's a nonstory."^[118] There are reports that the movement has been actively promoted by the Fox News Channel, indicating a possible media bias.^[119][120]

In April 2010, responding to a question from the media watchdog group Media Matters posed the previous week, Rupert Murdoch, the chief executive of News Corporation which owns Fox News, said, “I don’t think we should be supporting the Tea Party or any other party.” That same week Fox News canceled an appearance by Sean Hannity at a Cincinnati Tea Party rally.^[121]

Following the September 12 Taxpayer March on Washington, Fox News claimed it was the only cable news outlet to cover the emerging protests and took out full-page ads in The Washington Post, the New York Post, and The Wall Street Journal with a prominent headline reading, "How did ABC, CBS, NBC, MSNBC, and CNN miss this story?" ^[122]

CNN news anchor Rick Sanchez disputed Fox's claim pointing to various coverage of the event.^{[123][124][125]} CNN, NBC, CBS, MSNBC, and CBS Radio News provided various forms of live coverage of the rally in Washington throughout the day on Saturday, including the lead story on CBS Evening News.^{[123][125][126][127]}

James Rainey of The Los Angeles Times said MSNBC's attacks on the tea parties paled compared to Fox's support, but Olbermann, Maddow and Matthews were hardly subtle in disparaging the movement.^[128] Howard Kurtz has said that, "These [FOX] hosts said little or nothing about the huge deficits run up by President Bush, but Barack Obama's budget and tax plans have driven them to tea. On the other hand, CNN and MSNBC may have dropped the ball by all but ignoring the protests."^[129]

Criticism

Accusations of Racism

Accusations of racism and racial motivations among Tea Party protesters have dogged the group from close to the very beginning. Various politicians, political commentators and columnists have expressed concern about incidents of racism at Tea Party rallies and in opposition to the health care reform bill.^[130][131] The White House however has made efforts to downplay the accusations and said that the President does not believe he is being criticized because of his race.^[132]

Prominent conservative, Ward Connerly, decried accusations of tea party racism and defended the movement in a National Review column: "[R]ace is the engine that drives the political Left. In the courtrooms, on college campuses, and, most especially, in our politics, race is a central theme. Where it does not naturally rise to the surface, there are those who will manufacture and amplify it," Connerly said. "I am convinced beyond any doubt that all of this is part of the strategic plan being implemented by the Left in its current campaign to remake America."^[133]

Three black Tea Party protesters, when interviewed by the Washington Times, said that they have not experienced or witnessed any racial hostility. Charlene Freedman from New Jersey, who had attended four different Tea Party protests, including the health care protest on March 20, 2010, said "I didn't see color. They didn't see my color. We're just American citizens, and we're here to say, 'Keep America free.' I’ve heard nothing about racism ... nothing at all."^[134]

Other black conservatives have questioned the Tea Party's inclusiveness. Brandon Brice, a primary black speaker at a tax-day Tea Party rally, said he was worried about the movement, noting that "It's strayed away from the message of wasteful spending and Washington not listening to its constituents, and it's become more of this rally of hate." Lenny McAllister, a Republican commentator, author and tea party supporter said he has seen racism within the Tea Party and has confronted it, and like Brice, thinks leaders of the Tea Party movement must not ignore the issue. McAllister told the Washington Post, "The people are speaking up and becoming more educated on the issues, but you have fringe elements that are defining this good thing with their negative, hateful behavior."^[135] Jean Howard-Hill, leader of the National Republican African American Caucus, wrote that, "Any movement which cannot openly denounce racism, calling it out as wrong troubles me. To attack President Obama on his policy is one thing, but to do so on his race or some hysterical pretext of socialism is yet another."^[135] During an interview on NPR with Michel Martin, columnist Cynthia Tucker and Lenny McAllister discussed racism and the tea parties; Tucker wrote about the interview, concluding that McAllister's take on racism was that he’d seen enough racist signs at other tea party gatherings to know that racism is associated with the movement.^[136]

About 61 percent of tea party opponents say racism has a lot to do with the movement, a view held by just 7 percent of tea party supporters.^[137] Some Tea Partiers blame the media for casting them as racists.^[138] Allen West, one of 32 African-Americans who are running for Congress in 2010 as Republicans, says the notion of racism in the Tea Party movement has been made up by the news media.^[139]

Reports of improper behavior and intolerance

While at a Tea Party event on February 27, 2009, a photo was taken of TeaParty.org founder Dale Robertson with a sign that said "Congress = Slaveowner, Taxpayer = Niggar." on it. It was reported that he was booted from the event for the sign. The picture surfaced in January of 2010 after ResistNet promoted "Liberty Concerts" to be held by TeaParty.org, which Robertson operated.^[140] The image was featured on the Houston Tea Party website,^[141] but shortly afterward the Houston Tea Party changed it to a photoshoped image.^[142] Robertson has claimed the sign was a forgery, but a report by Mediaite said it was unlikely since it was featured on an official Tea Party website.^[143]

On March 20, 2010, before the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Bill was voted on by lawmakers, it was reported that protesters against the bill used racial and homophobic slurs at a rally at the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. Several black lawmakers said that demonstrators shouted "nigger" at them.^[144][145] Congressman Emanuel Cleaver said he was spat upon, and Congressman Barney Frank, who is gay, was called a "faggot."^[146][144] Representative André Carson said that while walking with John Lewis and his chief of staff from the Cannon building, amid chants of "Kill the bill" he heard the "n – word at least 15 times". Carson said he heard it coming from different places in the crowd, and one man "just rattled it off several times."^[147][148] Carson quoted Lewis as saying, "You know, this reminds me of a different time."^[147]

Andrew Breitbart offered to make a $100,000 donation to the United Negro College Fund "for any audio/video footage of the N-word being hurled at Congressmen John Lewis and Andre Carson" or if John Lewis could pass a lie-detector test. "It didn't happen," said Breitbart, who wasn't there.^[147] Breitbart asserted that the racial slurs were only alleged as a way for the left, abetted by the "progressive" media, to "marginalize" Tea Party supporters.^{[149][150][151][152]} In response, AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka said he himself had seen the events in question.^[153]

Breitbart also posted a mislabeled 48-second video of the Congressional Black Caucus members on the day in question, though later analysis revealed that the video was not of Lewis and Carson walking to the Capitol, when the slurs were reportedly heard, but instead showed the lawmakers leaving the Capitol — at least one hour after the reported incident. When asked about using the video from the wrong moment on his website, Breitbart stood by his claim that the lawmakers were lying. "I'm not saying the video was conclusive proof," he said.^[147][154]

Economist and prominent black conservative Thomas Sowell told the Washington Post, "This is a serious charge — and one deserving of some serious evidence... But, despite all the media recording devices on the scene, not to mention recording devices among the crowd gathered there, nobody can come up with a single recorded sound to back up that incendiary charge. Worse yet, some people have claimed that even doubting the charge suggests that you are a racist."^[133] The National Tea Party Federation sent a letter to the Congressional Black Caucus denouncing racism and requesting that the CBC supply any evidence of the alleged events at the protest on March 20, 2010.^[155] House Republican leaders criticized the use of slurs against the Democratic congressmen by the protesters, but said they were isolated incidents that shouldn't overshadow the health care debate. House Minority Leader John Boehner, called the incidents "reprehensible", and House Minority Whip Eric Cantor said, "Nobody condones that at all. There were 30,000 people here in Washington yesterday. And, yes, there were some very awful things said." As demonstrators gathered the following day outside the Capitol to rally against the bill again, one held a sign saying, "All tea partiers: If you hear a racial slur, step away, point, boo and take a picture of the rat bastard."^[156]

On March 21, 2010, Springboro Tea Party founder Sonny Thomas posted racist slurs against Hispanics on the group's Twitter webpage, including one post that said, "Illegals everywhere today! So many spics makes me feel like a speck. Grrr. Wheres my gun!?". The posts triggered cancellations by several local and statewide political candidates scheduled to speak at a Springboro Tea Party rally on April 17. Other Tea Party officials say the posts were "classless" and way out of line, but say they don't represent the Tea Party movement as a whole.^[157]

Tea Party Express leader Mark Williams referred to Allah as a "Monkey God". Williams' comments elicited strong rebukes from New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, NY State Senators and Muslim leaders. In a subsequent blog posting, Williams wrote, “I owe an apology to millions of Hindus who worship Lord Hanuman, an actual Monkey God. Hanuman is worshiped as a symbol of perseverance, strength, and devotion ... Those are hardly the traits of whatever the Hell (literally) it is that terrorists worship.” When questioned by The Washington Post about his comments about Islam and Obama, Williams has claimed the controversy has "been fantastic for the movement." ^[158][159]

Mark Williams came under further criticism in mid-July when he posted a fictional letter named "Colored People" on his blog. Williams claimed the letter was a "satirical" response to a resolution passed by the NAACP calling on Tea Party leaders to "'repudiate the racist element and activities' from within the movement."^[160] In response, the Tea Party Federation "demanded that the Tea Party Express – a separate group – oust Williams from its ranks. When it did not, the federation expelled both Williams and his conservative outfit."^[161]

On March 22, 2010, a Lynchburg, Virginia Tea Party activist, attempting to post the home address of Congressman Tom Perriello on his blog, incorrectly posted the address of Perriello’s brother, who also lives in Virginia, and encouraged readers to "drop by" to express their anger against Rep. Perriello’s vote in favor of the health care bill. The following day, a severed gas line was discovered in Perriello's brother's yard which connected to a propane grill on the home’s screened-in porch. Local police and FBI investigators determined that it was intentionally cut as a deliberate act of vandalism. The website issued a response saying the Tea Party member's action of posting the address "was not requested, sanctioned or endorsed" by the group.^{[162][163][164]}

On July 14, 2010, a Tea Party group in Iowa removed a billboard comparing President Barack Obama to Adolf Hitler and Vladimir Lenin after receiving sharp criticism from other tea party leaders. North Iowa tea party co-founder Bob Johnson admits the sign was wrong and offensive, and misrepresents the intentions of the Tea Party group.^[165]

Astroturfing

In a New York Times op-ed column, economist Paul Krugman, wrote that "the tea parties don't represent a spontaneous outpouring of public sentiment. They're AstroTurf (fake grass roots) events, manufactured by the usual suspects. In particular, a key role is being played by FreedomWorks, an organization run by Richard Armey."^[166]

On tax day April 15, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi stated "It's not really a grassroots movement. It's astroturf by some of the wealthiest people in America to keep the focus on tax cuts for the rich instead of for the great middle class."^[167]

According to Atlantic Monthly, the three main groups that provide guidance and organization for the protests, FreedomWorks, dontGO, and Americans for Prosperity, state that the demonstrations are an organic movement.^[168] Law professor and commentator Glenn Reynolds, best known as author of the Instapundit political blog, argued in The New York Post that: "These aren't the usual semiprofessional protesters who attend antiwar and pro-union marches. These are people with real jobs; most have never attended a protest march before. They represent a kind of energy that our politics hasn't seen lately, and an influx of new activists."^[169] Conservative political strategist Tim Phillips, now head of Americans for Prosperity, has remarked that the Republican Party is "too disorganized and unsure of itself to pull this off."^[10]

See also

• Coffee Party USA

References

Further reading

O'Hara, John M. (2010). A New American Tea Party: The Counterrevolution Against Bailouts, Handouts, Reckless Spending, and More Taxes. Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons. p. 336. ISBN 978-0470567982. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)

External links

Media related to 2009 Tea Party protests at Wikimedia Commons

• The Contract from America: Text Version
• Tea Party Finds Inspiration In Boston History – audio report by NPR