Rep. Gohmert Revives Absurd Claim That "More Than Half" Of Taxpayers Are Tea Partiers

Although Fox News host Glenn Beck insisted that his rally over the weekend was not about politics, there's no question that the piggy-back event hosted by Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) was a partisan affair.  One of the speakers was far-right Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX), who recently invited ridicule by promoting a conspiracy theory about "terror babies" being born in the U.S.  In his speech, Gohmert revived another one of his dubious claims, arguing that Tea Party members comprise "more than half" of all American taxpayers.   

GOHMERT: And then they see a poll that says 28 percent of American adults say that they identify with the Tea Party.  Do the math.  28 percent say that they're associated with Tea Parties, 53 percent are paying all the taxes - uh, do you think that maybe more than half of all people paying taxes are Tea Party folks? Yeah!

Watch:

Gohmert is citing a poll from May, in which 27 percent of respondents said they were "supportive" of the Tea Party.  Of course, the same poll also found that just 2 percent of Americans identify as "active participants" in the movement.  And Gohmert's math assumes that every Tea Party member pays income taxes (the 53 percent figure refers to federal income taxes), which is highly unlikely considering the prevalence of retirees in the movement's ranks.  So while you can at least see Gohmert's logic, he's still way off base. 

Watch highlights of Gohmert's remarks below: