TEA allowed the GOP in the door, now they are in many places exactly what you describe. Thats why we have to vote ppn principle and for principled people...not let ANYONE or group pick out candidates or force our votes. As long as people follow these groups who have the GOP’s interests at heart, not Americas, we lose. And TEA groups ran by longtime GOP ‘leaders’ are most definitely NOT on our side.
When I look at my local “tea party” group I see a “businessman” whose business is financed largely by taxpayer dollars through contracts with local governments and a longtime Republican party activist sitting at the leadership table trying to manage others at that table who are real conservatives.