Amol Rajan: Ukip and the Tea Party, brothers in pure bluster

Like the Tea Party of old, Ukip contains a load of nutters playing at single-issue politics

Chump: College economics professor and Republican candidate for Congress David Brat

12 June 2014

On Tuesday night the majority leader in the US House of Representatives, Eric Cantor, was defeated in a primary election by a Tea Party challenger. It was America’s biggest political upset for years. Mr Cantor was the second most senior Republican in the House, had openly campaigned to be its Speaker, and is the first House majority leader to be defeated for nomination since the office was created 115 years ago.

Naturally, various Tea Party loudmouths described the result as a huge victory, and stuck two fingers up at those who point out that they’ve had a terrible 2014. But the reality is even worse for this movement, dominated by old white men who hate modern life. The Tea Party turns five this election season, and it has achieved worse than nothing.

The greatest achievement of the Tea Party was the shutdown of America’s government. Obviously you have to be an idiot to chalk up a victory when 800,000 workers go without a pay cheque, or your country’s economy takes a direct hit of $20 billion. But that’s the signature win for this ramshackle posse of idiots, so let’s grant them that.

Don’t forget, they occupied hundreds of hours of cable news and other journalism with various beliefs, such as that the Bible is a better guide to evolution than Charles Darwin, Barack Obama is a Muslim, and climate change is a hoax. And they also made famous a number of chumps whose contribution to American culture was like that of a spitting cobra to its victim: poison in the eyes.

Chumps such as Todd Akin of Missouri, who believes in “legitimate rape”, or Richard Mourdock in Indiana, who said: “Rape is something God intended.” Tea Party-types have a curious fascination with rape. Or there’s Michele Bachmann, whose intelligence is best gauged by Googling “Michele Bachmann quotes”. Try it. You’ll have a ball. And to this list can now be added David Brat, the economics professor who stumped Cantor. I can’t wait for his views on rape, due any minute.

These superstars aside, the truth is the Tea Party has nothing to show for five years of lies, theocracy, hatred and propaganda. They failed to get a Republican into the Oval Office, and indeed have unleashed a civil war in their party, which bodes ill for the future.

Some day, the trajectory of an insurgency closer to home and called Ukip may look similar. The Tea Party started out as a single issue movement, fed up with paying for America’s national debt. Since then, they have become a broad libertarian alliance whinging about every government “conspiracy” under the sun. Similarly, Ukip started out as a Eurosceptic movement, but has inevitably lost its focus after growing rapidly.

The Newark by-election was a useful reminder that the party has yet to make a substantial breakthrough in Westminster. Ukip has done well in the polls, generated huge hype, and in Nigel Farage boasts an exceptionally talented politician. But it also contains a load of nutters who, like the Tea Party stars above, have given history several quotes and not much more. It may be that Ukip’s legacy will ultimately be a lot of sound and fury, and Ed Miliband in No 10.

Amol Rajan is editor of the Independent. Twitter: amolrajan

Amol Rajan: Ukip and the Tea Party, brothers in pure bluster

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