The epic drama between Sarah Palin, Christine O’Donnell, and the Tea Party of America over who would appear at an event in Iowa this weekend appears to have reached its conclusion: Palin is in. O’Donnell is out.
But that’s about all they agree on. According to CNN, Palin’s camp was upset after O’Donnell’s staff told the Tea Party group that they had the ex-governor’s support in joining the event, even claiming that the two had been exchanging text messages. The group’s president, Ken Crow, finally dropped O’Donnell (after briefly re-inviting her) once Palin put her appearance “on hold.”
O’Donnell, who is promoting her book “Troublemaker,” took to Twitter to defend her behavior and suggested reporters were inventing Palin sources as part of a conspiracy to hurt the Tea Party.
“My team did not misrepresent my schedule,” she wrote. “This report is completely inaccurate but it is not the first time the media got their facts wrong. Perhaps it was an honest mistake, or perhaps they are trying to cause a divide among our powerful movement. Because I really doubt anyone from Palin’s team would say such blatant inaccuracies.”
She continued with a typo, referring to “The organizers (every day Americans) oxen,” then quickly corrected herself, writing “The organizers (everyday Americans, not professional politicians) worked too hard to make this a great event. Now we have to help their efforts by not letting anyone falsely spin this into infighting.”
Benjy Sarlin
Benjy Sarlin is a reporter for Talking Points Memo and co-writes the campaign blog, TPM2012. He previously reported for The Daily Beast/Newsweek as their Washington Correspondent and covered local politics for the New York Sun.
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