Heritage Foundation chief Jim DeMint, often considered the face of the Tea Party, on Tuesday distanced himself from the movement.

“I’m really not involved with it at all, and I’m not involved with Senate elections,” DeMint told Wall Street Journal Live’s Mary Kissel when she asked why Tea Party candidates were behind in primary races. “What we’re doing is trying to cultivate the right ideas.”

When asked again about candidates like Matt Bevin and Milton Wolf, who identify as part of the Tea Party, aren’t gaining ground against incumbents in the Senate, DeMint suggested that the Tea Party isn’t as “organized” anymore.

“What’s happening around the country now is you can’t say one candidate’s Tea Party and the other one’s not,” he said.

“I don’t know if they’re calling themselves Tea Party candidates or not,” DeMint added later. “I’m called a senator tea party and I’ve never been a part of a tea party in my life. I’ve been to a lot of meetings.”

Watch the video via Wall Street Journal Live:

[H/t Mediaite]