Taken Out of Context

Last Saturday, I did an interview with Fox News about the tea party movement. As a result of that interview, my comments have been twisted and turned to sound as if I am selling out to the GOP an supporting one candidate. There is nothing farther from the truth. I am sorry for the confusion over my comments, but they now have been taken totally out of context.

First and foremost, as I stated in the interview, for full disclosure, I was/am neutral and unbiased because of the TPX/CNN Presidential debate we are hosting in September. We have to remain neutral for the integrity of the debate. No presidential candidate has my support, or the support of Tea Party Express, at this time.

Last election cycle, Tea Party Express took on the establishment and worked hard to send true conservatives to Washington. We challenged the Republican party time and time again because we stood on principles and did not waiver. We were not willing to accept any RINO or Obama-lite. We were no longer going to accept what the Republican party was trying to shove down our throats, even supporting Doug Hoffman in the New York special against the liberal Republican. That will not change. No tea party group has taken on the Republican establishment more than we have. We are totally committed to tea party principles of smaller government, less taxes, an end to deficit spending and free markets.

In the interview, I stated, "Well, I think that whoever is the Republican nominee, they are going to have to have the support of the tea party movement, the entire tea party movement." This statement is reflective of my confidence in the strength of the tea party movement, which specifically means that I don't think a candidate can win the nomination without our support, much less won the general election.

My point was that the "cream will rise to the top," meaning that a true conservative will gain our support in the primaries and we will work together to defeat Obama. I believe in this movement and the people of this movement. I feel sure that once again, the tea party movement will work hard to send true conservatives to Washington, just like we did in 2010. I don’t believe a Republican can win without the strong support for the tea party movement. So when I say that we will support the nominee, I mean that we will support the nominee because he or she has won the nomination because of tea party support. I didn’t mean we will accept whatever is thrown our way.

In 2012, we have to defeat Barack Obama. This country will not survive another four years of his big government, socialist policies. Look at what has happened in only 2.5 years when Obama knows he has a reelection in 2012. Can you imagine another 4 years of him when there will be no reelection and has nothing to lose? He is the worst President that this country has ever had. We must remove him from the White House in 2012. We are now stuck with Kagan and Sotomayer. If Obama wins and appoints more justices, we will have no chance of turning back the march to socialism.

By the time that we have a nominee, I think the movement will have already spoken loud and clear and the nominee will have received the nomination with the support of the movement. If the nominee does not have the support of the movement, they cannot win the election. I have said that for months and months now and I firmly believe that.

Last election cycle, TPX was kicked and abused because we got involved in the primaries. We were told we needed to stay out of the primaries because engaging in campaign activity was the politically incorrect thing to do in the tea party movement. We jumped in anyway because we did not want to settle for the lesser of two evils in November. Tea Party Express will be doing the same after the presidential debate in September. We will be supporting the strongest and best constitutional conservative that emerges in the field.

While some may doubt the movement, I have full faith in the people across this country and know that we will have a significant impact in the primaries. We proved the strength and power of the movement in the primaries of 2010 and again in November of 2010. I think the same thing will happen again in the primaries of 2012 and again in November 2012.

The bottom line is this...you need to fight like a dog now in order to impact who the Republican nominee will be. The Tea Party Express national bus tour starts on August 20th and we have invited the candidates for president to give us their best shot on how to restore America to strength and prosperity. It culminates in the Tea Party presidential debate on September 12th in Tampa, Florida. I believe this process will start to unify the tea party around the strongest conservative candidates.

Tea Party Express has been the only tea party group that has put our money where our mouth is and supported true conservatives. I can promise you that will not change!

If you want to make a difference, then get involved in the primaries. That is the time to support the true conservative. What have you done to support your true conservative candidate today?

If you haven't seen the entire interview, you can watch it HERE.