FreedomWorks, the conservative policy group that helped launch the tea party movement, has shut down, and its president blames former President Donald Trump.
The group’s board of directors voted unanimously Tuesday to dissolve, Adam Brandon, FreedomWorks’ president, told Politico in an interview. Wednesday is the last workday for employees.
“We’re dissolved,” Mr. Brandon said. “It’s effective immediately.”
Justin Longo, the organization’s director of communications, confirmed the news to The Washington Times and said an op-ed revealing more information will be published Thursday in another publication.
Mr. Brandon told Politico that the decision was propelled by the conservative movement turning more towards Mr. Trump’s “Make America Great Again” ideals. He said it caused a “huge gap” between the group’s libertarian principles and the more MAGA-leaning ideals of the members.
“A lot of our base aged, and so the new activists that have come in [with] Trump, they tend to be much more populist,” Mr. Brandon said. “So you look at the base and that just kind of shifted.”
He said he tried his best to work with “the two competing ideologies,” but ultimately, it was too much.
The ideological divide among the group’s base and staff impacted fundraising. Mr. Brandon revealed that the organization’s total revenue dropped by roughly half, to about $8 million since 2022. The group also laid off 40% of its staff last March.
Mr. Brandon said he plans on launching a new group aimed towards members of the younger generations, Gen Z and Millennials, whom he thinks are more receptive to libertarian views.