The Tea Party Is On Life-Support. Researchers Explain Why.
In a New York Times op-ed Tuesday, titled, “Crashing The Tea Party,” two researchers explain why the Tea Party is on life-support, and will die soon. The entire article is worth reading, but here are a few salient excerpts:
“Polls show that disapproval of the Tea Party is climbing. In April 2010, a New York Times/CBS News survey found that 18 percent of Americans had an unfavorable opinion of it, 21 percent had a favorable opinion and 46 percent had not heard enough. Now, 14 months later, Tea Party supporters have slipped to 20 percent, while their opponents have more than doubled, to 40 percent.”
“It is even less popular than much maligned groups like “atheists†and “Muslims.†Interestingly, one group that approaches it in unpopularity is the Christian Right.”
“Actually, the Tea Party’s supporters today were highly partisan Republicans long before the Tea Party was born, and were more likely than others to have contacted government officials.”
“What’s more, contrary to some accounts, the Tea Party is not a creature of the Great Recession. Many Americans have suffered in the last four years, but they are no more likely than anyone else to support the Tea Party.”
“They are overwhelmingly white, but even compared to other white Republicans, they had a low regard for immigrants and blacks long before Barack Obama was president, and they still do.”
“And Tea Partiers continue to hold these views: they seek “deeply religious†elected officials, approve of religious leaders’ engaging in politics and want religion brought into political debates. The Tea Party’s generals may say their overriding concern is a smaller government, but not their rank and file, who are more concerned about putting God in government.”
“This inclination among the Tea Party faithful to mix religion and politics explains their support for Representative Michele Bachmann of Minnesota and Gov. Rick Perry of Texas. Their appeal to Tea Partiers lies less in what they say about the budget or taxes, and more in their overt use of religious language and imagery, including Mrs. Bachmann’s lengthy prayers at campaign stops and Mr. Perry’s prayer rally in Houston.”
“Yet it is precisely this infusion of religion into politics that most Americans increasingly oppose. While over the last five years Americans have become slightly more conservative economically, they have swung even further in opposition to mingling religion and politics. It thus makes sense that the Tea Party ranks alongside the Christian Right in unpopularity.”
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If Democrats win control of the U.S. House of Representatives in November, multiple investigations into senior Trump administration officials would begin, a Democratic lawmaker said.
“Stephen Miller should lawyer up,” said U.S. Rep. Pat Ryan (D-NY), responding to video of his remarks earlier Thursday.
Congressman Ryan had been speaking with Pablo Manríquez, the editor of Migrant Insider on Substack, who said to the New York Democrat that White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller “seems to be operating sort of as a shadow president at this point.”
“Can you think of any legal liability he could face on the back end of this presidency?” Manríquez asked.
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“Well,” Ryan responded, “there’s gonna be legal, and I think criminal liability for multiple members of this administration, certainly including Stephen Miller.”
“They continue to just violate the law, violate the Constitution, violate our moral standing and values as Americans,” he alleged.
Ryan said that Democrats across multiple House committees “are already readying investigations … to be ready on day one, when we retake the majority, when the voice of the people are brought back here to the House.”
Democrats currently appear likely to get that chance.
According to Dave Wasserman of the Cook Political Report on Thursday, “House ratings show Dems as modest favorites for control, as Republicans would need to win two thirds of Toss Ups (67%) to keep the majority.”
Wasserman also noted that eighteen House races had moved in the Democrats’ direction.
.@PabloReports: Stephen Miller seems to be operating sort of as a shadow president at this point. Is there any legal liability he could face at the end of this presidency?
Ryan: There’s going to be legal—and I think criminal—liability for multiple members of this administration,… pic.twitter.com/5yKthdegNt
— Acyn (@Acyn) January 15, 2026
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President Donald Trump, rejecting criticism from within his own party, the economic challenges facing the American people, and polling on Greenland, suggested that his second-term accomplishments were so extensive that they should render the 2026 midterm elections unnecessary.
In an interview with Reuters, President Trump “expressed frustration” that Republicans may lose control of the House of Representatives and possibly the Senate in the November midterm elections.
Calling it “some deep psychological thing,” Trump told Reuters that “when you win the presidency, you don’t win the midterms.”
He then “boasted” of his accomplishments, telling the reporter, “when you think of it, we shouldn’t even have an election.”
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Trump, Reuters reported, “repeatedly dismissed concerns by the public, business leaders and even his fellow Republicans on issues ranging from the future of Greenland and the criminal investigation into Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, to the state of the economy.”
He deemed “fake” a Reuters/Ipsos poll that found little support — just 17 percent — for him seizing control of Greenland.
He repeatedly declared, “I don’t care” when confronted with news that some Senate Republicans oppose the Department of Justice’s investigation into Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, and “when reminded of JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon’s concerns that White House interference in the Fed could harm the economy.”
Trump also dismissed the concerns of the American people over high prices they are facing, instead incorrectly declaring the economy the strongest “in history.” He told Reuters that he simply needed to do a better job promoting his achievements.
He appeared to suggest that “he follows his own compass” rather than put much stock in public opinion.
“A lot of times, you can’t convince a voter,” he said. “You have to just do what’s right. And then a lot of the things I did were not really politically popular. They turned out to be when it worked out so well.”
On actions by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Reuters reported that Trump “said he would continue sending armed agents into cities, claiming that his efforts had taken ‘thousands of murderers out of our country.”
Reuters noted that there is “no evidence to support that assertion.”
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Image via Reuters
President Donald Trump escalated his rhetoric about unleashing domestic military force on American streets, threatening on Thursday to invoke the Insurrection Act in response to protests in Minneapolis — a move that could allow the deployment of active-duty troops, often described as a last resort.
After a federal agent shot a man in the leg in Minneapolis on Wednesday night — intensifying already high tensions in the Gopher State — Trump sent a warning to Minnesota elected officials.
“If the corrupt politicians of Minnesota don’t obey the law and stop the professional agitators and insurrectionists from attacking the Patriots of I.C.E., who are only trying to do their job,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, “I will institute the INSURRECTION ACT, which many Presidents have done before me, and quickly put an end to the travesty that is taking place in that once great State.”
Just one week earlier, he had told The New York Times that he had not yet invoked the Insurrection Act because, “I haven’t really felt the need to do it.”
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CNN’s Alayna Treene noted, “In my conversations with Trump officials, they have so far been hesitant to go there — not only because of the legal complications, but perhaps more so, because of the political ones.”
But there appears to be at least some anecdotal support for him doing so among the far-right reaches of his party. Minutes after Trump issued his threat, Congressman Chip Roy’s office reposted video of the Texas Republican from earlier this week telling Fox News, “Of course, the president should use the Insurrection Act from 1807 to say, you know what, we can go out and stop this so we can enforce the law to protect the people of the United States under the Constitution.”
Wednesday night, in response to news of the shooting, journalist Wajahat Ali wrote, “This is the chaos and crisis that Stephen Miller and Trump want so they can invoke the Insurrection Act.”
CNN’s Aaron Blake summed up recent events, noting that “All at once, Trump is” threatening to take over Greenland, possibly by military force, threatening to strike Iran after having already conducted a military excursion in Venezuela, and now, threatening to invoke the Insurrection Act.
Journalist Michael A. Cohen remarked, “Send thousands of lawless ICE agents to Minnesota … create chaos and disorder by terrorizing immigrant communities … then invoke the Insurrection Act because of the chaos the federal government has created. It’s like the poor man’s version of the Reichstag fire.”
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Image via Reuters
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