Tea Party Racism Rift Reveals Fissures
An official with the Tea Party Express on Monday blasted its expulsion from a national coalition over its refusal to oust a former chairman who satirized the NAACP in a controversial blog posting.
The political action committee that raises money for Republican candidates was booted from the National Tea Party Federation for refusing to rebuke spokesman Mark Williams, whose posting referred to NAACP president Benjamin Jealous as "Tom's nephew and NAACP head colored person."
Tea Party Express coordinator Joe Wierzbicki said it was "arrogant and preposterous" for the federation to expel his group.
"Circular firing squads of groups within the tea party movement attacking one another accomplish nothing, and on this issue the Tea Party Federation is wrong," he said in a statement.
The friction highlights fault lines within the loosely jointed tea party movement, which has no formal organization or bylaws. Internal squabbling could weaken its political clout, and it comes at a time when the NAACP and others have sought to discredit the movement.
The tea party - thousands of community groups that promote limited government, free markets and other conservative and Libertarian principles - has resisted any notion of centralized control.
Other Tea Party Express officials tried to distance the group from Williams but stopped short of expelling him.
Williams "may speak on behalf of us in some circumstances, in some situations, and we may agree on some things," Tea Party Express Chairwoman Amy Kremer said during an appearance in Anchorage to help U.S. Senate hopeful Joe Miller. "This is not one of the things that we agree upon."
Tea Party Objects to NAACP's 'Selective Racisim'
Speaking Sunday to "Face the Nation host Bob Schieffer, David Webb, a co-founder of Tea Party 365, said that Williams is not a Tea Party leader, "although he's perceived as such by some in the media and by Mr. Jealous."
Williams stepped down as chairman of the Tea Party Express about a month ago and remains listed on the group's website as a spokesman. The voicemail on his cell phone was full Monday and not taking any more messages.
In a blog posting Sunday, Williams said he was refusing media interviews because he did not want to further inflame the situation. He noted he had pulled his "inflammatory (and arguably over the top - just ask my wife) criticism of the NAACP."
Kremer didn't say whether Williams would continue as a spokesman. She said Tea Party Express does not condone racism.
Biden: Tea Party Not a Racist Movement
In Idaho, the lone Democrat to win favor with the Tea Party Express rejected its endorsement, citing the blog about the NAACP.
U.S. Rep. Walt Minnick told the group in a letter he had no choice but to decline after it refused to oust Williams.
Minnick, who represents Idaho's 1st Congressional District, called the blog post "reprehensible."
Christina Botteri, a founding member of the National Tea Party Federation, said the organization was "interested in moving the whole Mark Williams thing behind us," to focus on fiscal responsibility, limited government and free markets.
Earlier, Tea Party Express coordinator Wierzbicki claimed the federation had "enabled and empowered the NAACP's racist attacks on the tea party movement, and they should be ashamed of themselves."
The NAACP approved a resolution last week calling on activists and others to "repudiate the racist element and activities" within the tea party movement.
Tea Party Express expects to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to help Miller take on U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski in next month's GOP primary in Alaska.
The group also helped Sharron Angle overcome her long-shot status to win Nevada's GOP primary. Angle is set to face Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid in November.
Miller, a Fairbanks attorney making his first statewide run for public office, reported having about $125,000 in campaign funding on hand as of June 30, compared to Murkowski's nearly $2.4 million. Miller also has the endorsement of Sarah Palin, whose political action committee has reportedly given Miller $5,000.
The Tea Party Express and the federation have each faced criticism within the grass-roots movement.
Some local activists depict the Tea Party Express as little more than a front for a Republican-linked group to make money because its chief strategist is former Reagan White House aide and longtime GOP consultant Sal Russo. Others say the federation is trying to gain influence in a movement that has resisted formal leadership.
Mark Meckler, a California attorney who is a national co-founder of the 2,300-chapter Tea Party Patriots, said he warned the federation about Williams' reputation for incendiary commentary.
The federation is "a bunch of self-important folks who decided they need to speak for the tea party," Meckler said. "We wanted nothing to do with them."
© 2010 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report. The political action committee that raises money for Republican candidates was booted from the National Tea Party Federation for refusing to rebuke spokesman Mark Williams, whose posting referred to NAACP president Benjamin Jealous as "Tom's nephew and NAACP head colored person."
Tea Party Express coordinator Joe Wierzbicki said it was "arrogant and preposterous" for the federation to expel his group.
"Circular firing squads of groups within the tea party movement attacking one another accomplish nothing, and on this issue the Tea Party Federation is wrong," he said in a statement.
The friction highlights fault lines within the loosely jointed tea party movement, which has no formal organization or bylaws. Internal squabbling could weaken its political clout, and it comes at a time when the NAACP and others have sought to discredit the movement.
The tea party - thousands of community groups that promote limited government, free markets and other conservative and Libertarian principles - has resisted any notion of centralized control.
Other Tea Party Express officials tried to distance the group from Williams but stopped short of expelling him.
Williams "may speak on behalf of us in some circumstances, in some situations, and we may agree on some things," Tea Party Express Chairwoman Amy Kremer said during an appearance in Anchorage to help U.S. Senate hopeful Joe Miller. "This is not one of the things that we agree upon."
Tea Party Objects to NAACP's 'Selective Racisim'
Speaking Sunday to "Face the Nation host Bob Schieffer, David Webb, a co-founder of Tea Party 365, said that Williams is not a Tea Party leader, "although he's perceived as such by some in the media and by Mr. Jealous."
Williams stepped down as chairman of the Tea Party Express about a month ago and remains listed on the group's website as a spokesman. The voicemail on his cell phone was full Monday and not taking any more messages.
In a blog posting Sunday, Williams said he was refusing media interviews because he did not want to further inflame the situation. He noted he had pulled his "inflammatory (and arguably over the top - just ask my wife) criticism of the NAACP."
Kremer didn't say whether Williams would continue as a spokesman. She said Tea Party Express does not condone racism.
Biden: Tea Party Not a Racist Movement
In Idaho, the lone Democrat to win favor with the Tea Party Express rejected its endorsement, citing the blog about the NAACP.
U.S. Rep. Walt Minnick told the group in a letter he had no choice but to decline after it refused to oust Williams.
Minnick, who represents Idaho's 1st Congressional District, called the blog post "reprehensible."
Christina Botteri, a founding member of the National Tea Party Federation, said the organization was "interested in moving the whole Mark Williams thing behind us," to focus on fiscal responsibility, limited government and free markets.
Earlier, Tea Party Express coordinator Wierzbicki claimed the federation had "enabled and empowered the NAACP's racist attacks on the tea party movement, and they should be ashamed of themselves."
The NAACP approved a resolution last week calling on activists and others to "repudiate the racist element and activities" within the tea party movement.
Tea Party Express expects to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to help Miller take on U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski in next month's GOP primary in Alaska.
The group also helped Sharron Angle overcome her long-shot status to win Nevada's GOP primary. Angle is set to face Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid in November.
Miller, a Fairbanks attorney making his first statewide run for public office, reported having about $125,000 in campaign funding on hand as of June 30, compared to Murkowski's nearly $2.4 million. Miller also has the endorsement of Sarah Palin, whose political action committee has reportedly given Miller $5,000.
The Tea Party Express and the federation have each faced criticism within the grass-roots movement.
Some local activists depict the Tea Party Express as little more than a front for a Republican-linked group to make money because its chief strategist is former Reagan White House aide and longtime GOP consultant Sal Russo. Others say the federation is trying to gain influence in a movement that has resisted formal leadership.
Mark Meckler, a California attorney who is a national co-founder of the 2,300-chapter Tea Party Patriots, said he warned the federation about Williams' reputation for incendiary commentary.
The federation is "a bunch of self-important folks who decided they need to speak for the tea party," Meckler said. "We wanted nothing to do with them."
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For example, the alleged racial epithets directed against Lewis around the passage of the Health Care bill have never been shown to occur, despite dozens of videos of the event and the offer of $100,000 in reward money by Andrew Breitbart.
Above, we have someone asserting that the speech by the racist NAACP speaker occurred 24 years ago, when, in fact, it occurred a very short time ago.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtH7vH4yRcY
Wow. What a shock.
You obviously haven't been reading the articles here - the first NAACP article here had the pictures they'd been concerned about. Dumb Dumb Repugs !!
I read the article, I did not see any pictures. Regardless, as citizens, they have 1st Admendment protections for their beliefs.
Obviously, it is not on your fox programming!
Not on FOX, Not on CBS, Not on CNN, Not on Yahoo.com. Mite be on MSNBC but that network os so far out in left that nothing they say can be trusted.
Hey robbie, turn off the fox/rush propaganda machine, and you will see much of the fringe teahaddist racism and hypocrisy.
I can't find it. Where is it?
I'd have "some" respect for the far-right fringe teahaddists if they would drop the birther nonsense fueled by racism, and had started their campaign of excessive government spending during bushworld between the two bushevik recessions, instead of now when spending obviously has the bushevik fingerprints in each and every Obama federal budget!
Total teahaddist hypocrisy!
You still have not shown proof of this rampany racism you claim exists in the tea party.
Ad hominem attacks against any of the corporate media that does not express your political views and edited teahaddist's footage, falls on deaf ears, and just shows the juvenile side of the minority party today!
That makes no sense.