Boehner Says Tea Party Is Raising Money 'Beating Up on Me' (Video)

By Matt Fuller

Posted February 27, 2014 at 12:52pm

Speaker John A. Boehner gave a nice assessment of the tea party Thursday on its unofficial five year anniversary, but stressed he isn’t exactly happy with groups like the Tea Party Patriots who are trying to fire him .

“My gripe is not with the tea party; my gripe is with some Washington organizations who feel like they got to go raise money by beating up on me and others,” Boehner told reporters.

The Ohio Republican also said he has ”great respect for the tea party and the energy they have brought to the electoral process.”   As we wrote today, <a href="https://blogs.rollcall.com/218/tea-party-birthday-five-years/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Congress seems to have a mostly mixed assessment of the conservative movement</a> .   Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi Thursday morning also fielded questions about the tea party and its legacy.   The California Democrat said the tea party had “hijacked” the Republican Party, and that tea partyers “considered it a success when they shut down government.”   Pelosi said her message to Republicans was this: “Take back your party, this isn’t who you are.” </body>