The demise of the Tea Party has been exaggerated, at least slightly. Wednesday’s Tea Party Patriots-backed “Stop the Iran Deal” rally was a call back to the anti-Obama protests of old—if not in crowd size, then in rhetoric. With a who’s-who of movement favorites coming to stage with defiant rebukes not just of the now all-but-official Iran deal, but also “liberal media,” establishment Republicans, and President Obama, the event was a throwback to the days of Obamacare-targeted vitriol.
Ted Cruz, Sarah Palin, Glenn Beck, Michele Bachmann, and even Phil Robertson were all there, as was presumed Republican frontrunner Donald Trump. And naturally, it was Trump—not the movement’s current darling Cruz, or any of its past stars—who won the day. “We will have so much winning if I get elected that you get bored of winning,” he said, after opining to the crowd that the country is being led by “very, very stupid people.”
While Trump may not be the “pure” conservative the base craves, it’s clear he’s tapped into the anger that fuels it. As one speaker after another came to the stage to voice their objections and rally that base, we were there, mingling with the crowd and taking the peculiar current temperature of the attendees. The video above shows what they told us.
