Thread by @RTodKelly

1/ Joe Walsh is asking what I see a lot of NeverTrumpers are asking these days: What ever happened to the Tea Party?

How did that once-great grassroots gathering of fiscal conservatives they once held so dear transmogrify into the grotesque, racist, anti-Constitutionalist,

https://twitter.com/WalshFreedom/status/1153650092286648321

2/ conspiracy-theory-laden movement we now call Trumpism? And for Walsh and other NeverTrumpers asking this question, I present this short thread which - spoiler - has some good news and some bad news.

The good news: Your Tea Party didn't go anywhere. In fact, it won the White House.

The Bad News: I get that you're freaked out Trump is in the White House, but the truth of the matter is you and your Tea Party helped put him there.

Let's take a closer look at the Tea Party:

4/ Pretty much at its infancy, in internal part of Tea Party's message was what religions were and were not welcome in America. Back in 2010 Tea Party Nation was calling for the expulsion of Congressman Keith Ellison on the basis that he was Muslim.

As Tea Party Nation founder Judson Phillips explained, Tea Partiers simply did not believe all faiths had a place in America, which his flock believed should officially be a Christian Nation.

7/And it wasn't just Phillips' flock. From the start, the people who gathered at Tea Party rally's went to the trouble to make big signs explaining which races were the bad races.

8/ And to be clear, the racism wasn't always an addition to the economic message. A lot of Tea Party rallies (and featured speakers) were clear that identifying and casting out the Other was the primary objective. Roy Moore was a popular guest for this very reason.

9/ Many Tea Party rallies were held for the express purpose of trying to get government officials to make non-Cristian/Jewish houses of worship illegal, and to get rid of Muslims neighborhood associations.

ordinary-times.com/2013/06/05/how…

10/ One such rally in Manchester TN, which featured ex-SNL cast member Victoria Jackson, was held in part to support a council member who posted a meme "jokingly" threatening to kill Muslims on Facebook.

11/ Today we tend to think of Birtherism as a thing Donald Trump created. But he didn't, he just picked up on it. The truth is, though Birthirism was started by trolls, it found a home and spread via the Tea Party.

12/ And if you're thinking the key ingredient Trump supplied was crazy-ass conspiracy theories, then you are in for a surprise. The whole anti-Semitic Soros thing? It was a key part of the Tea party movement since 2010.

Studies that show that although anti-islamic rhetoric, policy proposals and hate-crimes obviously increased after 9/11, they really spiked when leaders of the Tea Party movement gave people tacit permission to engage in such behaviors.
depts.washington.edu/uwiser/racepol…

14/ gsb.stanford.edu/insights/how-r…

15/ Also, those concerns that Trump killed the Tea Party's original Originalist views of first amendment freedoms? Again, press releases from Tea Party orgs as early as 2010 show that Trump was a follower, not a leader in these areas.

16/ And just for good measure, let us not forget that the non-economic things Tea Party members were concerned about were not restricted to race and religion.

17/ Finally, if Matt Walsh is looking for answers to how the Tea Party "disappeared" and Trumpism rose in its place, may I suggest he look no further then Matt Walsh, who used to go to Tea Parties and encourage attendees to turn to talk radio for all their news.

18/ And to all my good friends who are NeverTrumpers today, I say this: I love you all, and that is no joke. But really, Trumpism is a fire you all stoked ten years ago - or if not, you were happy enough to let it grow and fester for your own means. Please learn from this./18

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