Amy Kremer

Kremer speaking at the 2011 Conservative Political Action Conference

Amy Kremer (born 1970 or 1971)[1] is an American political activist involved in the Tea Party movement.

Early life and career

Kremer previously worked for Delta Air Lines as a flight attendant, but gave up her job to focus on raising her daughter.[1] She became politically active in the Tea Party movement through Twitter and was involved in organising the first Tea Party protests in 2009.[2] She later described herself as having been "just a mom who was sick and fed up with what was going on in Washington."[3] She was a founding member of Tea Party Patriots (TPP), but defected to Tea Party Express (TPE) in October 2009.[4] Following her departure TPP filed a lawsuit against Kremer alleging she had tried to prevent others from accessing the group's collective resources.[5]

Tea Party Express (2009–2014)

Soon after joining Tea Party Express, Kremer urged the organization to support Scott Brown's campaign for the U.S. Senate in Massachusetts.[1] During the 2010 midterm elections Kremer campaigned for candidates including Joe Miller, who ran for the U.S. Senate in Alaska.[2] She also endorsed Tom Tancredo, the American Constitution Party candidate for governor of Colorado.[6] In October 2010, The Daily Telegraph named her the "most influential" person in the Tea Party movement.[4]

In a 2011 appearance on The Colbert Report, Kremer said the U.S. federal government raised "enough tax revenue to service our debt, pay for Medicare and Medicaid and Social Security, and then still have about $300 [billion] or $400 billion left over." PolitiFact.com rated this statement "Half True", noting that Kremer's calculations ignored defense and homeland security spending and mandatory programs.[7] In June 2011 Kremer said TPE would support Mitt Romney if he became the Republican nominee in the 2012 presidential election.[8] A co-founder of Tea Party Patriots rejected Kremer's remarks, saying "a pledge of allegiance to the Republican Party, or any other party, violates what the Tea Party movement is all about and is completely out of touch with grassroots Americans".[9] In the 2012 elections TPE endorsed U.S. Senate candidate Richard Mourdock in Indiana; in September 2011 Kremer described Mourdock as a "true conservative."[10]

During a September 2012 appearance on CNN's Starting Point, host Soledad O'Brien and others criticised Kremer for wondering whether President Barack Obama "loves America."[11] In 2013 Kremer said that U.S. Senator Saxby Chambliss of Georgia, a member of the Republican Party, voted "more with Democrats than with conservatives." PolitiFact.com rated this claim as "False", citing a Washington Post analysis that found Chambliss voted with fellow Republicans 91 percent of the time in 2011 and 2012.[12] Kremer spent much of the summer 2013 congressional recess on a national tour intended to convince Republicans to support defunding the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.[13]

Kremer resigned from Tea Party Express in April 2014. She described the split as amicable and attributed her departure to a desire to focus on Matt Bevin's campaign for the U.S. Senate in Kentucky, instead of Curt Clawson's campaign in Florida's 19th congressional district.[14]

Great America PAC (2016)

As of February 2016, Kremer was the chair of TrumPAC, a super PAC supporting Donald Trump's presidential campaign.[15] TrumPAC later changed its name to Great America PAC.[16] Great America PAC was founded by Kremer and William Doddridge, the CEO of The Jewelry Exchange.[17] On June 9, 2016, it was announced that Kremer was co-founding a new super PAC called "Women Vote Trump." [18]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Blackmon, Douglas A.; Levitz, Jennifer; Berzon, Alexandra; Etter, Lauren (October 29, 2010). "Birth of a Movement". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved April 6, 2015.
  2. 1 2 Pilkington, Ed (October 18, 2010). "Amy Kremer takes her Tea Party Express from coast to coast". The Guardian. Retrieved May 14, 2012.
  3. ↑ Chernin, Michael (May 16, 2014). "BPR Interview: Amy Kremer". Brown Political Review. Retrieved April 6, 2015.
  4. 1 2 "Top 20 most influential people in the Tea Party movement: 10-1". The Daily Telegraph. October 13, 2010. Retrieved May 14, 2012.
  5. ↑ Shapiro, Lila (March 18, 2010). "Tea Party Civil War? Lawsuit, GOP Friction Splits Leaders". The Huffington Post. Retrieved April 6, 2015.
  6. ↑ Steinhauser, Paul (October 25, 2010). "Tancredo gets big Tea Party endorsement". CNN. Retrieved April 6, 2015.
  7. ↑ Jacobson, Louis (May 20, 2011). "Tea Party Express' Amy Kremer says current tax revenues could cover interest, Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security". PolitiFact.com. Retrieved April 6, 2015.
  8. ↑ Stemple, Lexi (June 4, 2011). "Tea Party Group to Back Any GOP Nominee—Including Romney". Fox News. Retrieved April 6, 2015.
  9. ↑ McAuliff, Michael (June 8, 2011). "Mitt Romney Splits Tea Party Groups". The Huffington Post. Retrieved April 6, 2015.
  10. ↑ Hennessey, Kathleen (September 29, 2011). "'Tea party' group backs challenger to Indiana's Sen. Lugar". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved April 6, 2015.
  11. ↑ Robillard, Kevin (September 4, 2012). "Tea party leader Amy Kremer under fire on CNN". Politico. Retrieved October 5, 2012.
  12. ↑ Stirgus, Eric (January 8, 2013). "Chambliss not a true conservative, critic says". PolitiFact.com. Retrieved April 6, 2015.
  13. ↑ Barrow, Bill (September 14, 2013). "GOP, Tea Party Face Growing Divide". The Huffington Post. Retrieved April 6, 2015.
  14. ↑ Killough, Ashley; Brusk, Steve; Steinhauser, Paul (April 18, 2014). "First on CNN: Amy Kremer resigns from Tea Party Express". CNN. Retrieved April 6, 2015.
  15. ↑ Haberman, Maggie (February 12, 2016). "PAC Is Backing Donald Trump, Despite Campaign's Policy". The New York Times. Retrieved April 1, 2016.
  16. ↑ Isenstadt, Alex (March 11, 2016). "Pro-Trump PAC hires GOP veteran as strategist". Politico. Retrieved April 1, 2016.
  17. ↑ Jaffe, Alexandra (March 31, 2016). "Pro-Trump Super PAC Launches New Wisconsin Ad". NBC News. Retrieved April 1, 2016.
  18. ↑ http://www.vox.com/2016/6/9/11893300/women-vote-trump-super-pac-donald-trump

External links

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