DeMint: Tea Party Misread As 'Right-wing'

The Hill reports:

Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) defended the Tea Party in an interview published Thursday, claiming it is often misunderstood as a "right wing" of the GOP.

"What is the most misunderstood fact about the Tea Party, in your opinion?" the strong>Christian Post <asked DeMint.

"That it is a right wing, manufactured by the Republican Party," he responded. "The Tea Party doesn’t like politicians. They don’t like Republicans or Democrats. These are people who are independent."

Tea Party members "are people of all walks of life and they are the best behaved group I’ve ever been in," added DeMint.

DeMint has emerged this year as a de facto leader in the Senate of freshman GOP senators with Tea Party ties, including Rand Paul (Ky.), Marco Rubio (Fla.), Pat Toomey (Pa.), Mike Lee (Utah) and Ron Johnson (Wis.).