Rick Santelli Reacts to Tea Party Phenomenon: "I'm Pretty Proud of This"

On February 19, 2009, CNBC’s Rick Santelli and the traders on the floor of the CBOE expressed their outrage over the fact that they would have to pay their neighbor’s mortgage. Particularly disgusting was the thought of bailing out a neighbor who bought far more house than they could actually afford.

Santelli went on to compare what was happening to America under Barack Obama to Castro’s Cuba and suggested a kind of “Boston Tea Party” anti-spending revolt.

It Was a Rant Heard Around the World.


And with that rant on the floor of the Chicago Stock Exchange a movement was born.
Today, Rick Santelli reacted to the tea party “cultural phenomenon” that is happening across the country at over 500 locations.
Rick Santelli said he was very proud.
NewsBusters reported:

But on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” April 15, co-host Joe Kernen asked Santelli what he thought of being a “cultural phenomenon.” That was the same show Santelli famously called out President Barack Obama for the unfairness of his housing bailout proposal on Feb. 19.

“A lot of articles about these tea parties,” Kernen said. “They all have your name in them, like you caused it. Are you actually attending any or are you just sort of got the idea going initially? What do you think? I mean, you’re like a cultural phenomenon at this point.”

Santelli didn’t shy away. He called the rallies American and said he was proud of what he inspired.

“I don’t know about cultural phenomenon, but I’ll tell you what,” Santelli said. “I think that this tea party phenomenon is steeped in American culture and steeped in American notion to get involved with what’s going on with our government. I haven’t organized. I’m going to have to work to pay my taxes, so I’m not going to be able to get away today. But, I have to tell you – I’m pretty proud of this.

He also said despite the claims from others in the media, including people at CNBC’s sister network MSNBC, calling the movement “Astroturf,” Santelli declared it a grassroots movement.

“I think from a grassroots standpoint, I’m sure some of the media out there is not going to peg it that way, but isn’t it about as American as it gets – for people to roll their strollers and make their signs and go voice their opinion about the direction of the country?” Santelli said. “Good, bad or indifferent – that’s a great thing. There’s not a lot of countries, of course, that afford their people that, that type of right. It’s a great thing.”

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Jim Hoft is the founder and editor of The Gateway Pundit, one of the top conservative news outlets in America. Jim was awarded the Reed Irvine Accuracy in Media Award in 2013 and is the proud recipient of the Breitbart Award for Excellence in Online Journalism from the Americans for Prosperity Foundation in May 2016. In 2023, The Gateway Pundit received the Most Trusted Print Media Award at the American Liberty Awards.

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