Tea Party Nation released a statement Monday declaring, “The Tea Party Movement is not racist.”

Judson Phillips, founder of the Tea Party Nation, said his group had to respond because “this is becoming an issue for the whole movement.”

“We are having to react to this quickly because this is the line that the other side wants to hit us with — that we are all racists. If they can make that story stick, it will destroy the effectiveness of the movement,” Phillips said.

Expert: Tea Party Split  – CNN.com.