The Columbia Tea Party went from Donald Trump to jilted chump after the celebrity businessman canceled his appearance at Thursday’s State House rally, and state legislators approved tax breaks and spending that the group opposed.
Trump’s decision to not enter the GOP presidential race left local Tea Party leaders stewing about the way they had been treated. But about 30 people were on hand Thursday to thank Gov. Nikki Haley, lawmakers and activists for their work to require more on-the-record Legislative votes.
It was all part of a tough week for the state’s Tea Party movement.
On Wednesday, the S.C. House reversed course and approved a controversial sales tax break for online retailer Amazon. Thursday, the S.C. Senate voted down a proposal that would have rebated any better-than-expected state tax collections to income tax filers.
Columbia Tea Party chairman Allen Olson expected as many as 2,000 would have attended Thursday’s rally had Trump been there. But The Donald, a favorite of many who attended the group’s Tax Day rally with U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., elected to not run and dropped the rally from his schedule.
“It was a kick in the gut, but it gives you a chance to regroup,” said Olson. “He’s a businessman. He showed his worth.”
Olson said the legislative losses will motivate Tea Party members, adding they will turn their focus now on a bill to cap punitive damages in lawsuits and other legislative issues.
Other Tea Party activists agreed.
Haley told the meeting she was forming the Governor’s Tea Party Coalition to be run from her office. The group will be made up of volunteers who will work with Haley on issues, advocacy and grass-roots organizing, spokesman Rob Godfrey said.
Philip Stanley came to Thursday’s rally from Asheville, N.C., in hopes of seeing Trump but said he was pleased to learn Haley would headline the event instead.
Stanley said he respected Trump for directly questioning President Barack Obama about his birth certificate without fear of being labeled with “the R word” for racist. (Obama subsequently produced his long-form birth certificate, and Stanley said Thursday that he did not dispute the president’s U.S. citizenship.)
“I never thought he was serious,” Stanley said of Trump. “He’s a promoter. ... Then, I heard Nikki Haley was here. That’s almost as good.”
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