JUNEAU, Alaska – An official with the Tea Party Express on Monday blasted its expulsion from a national coalition over its refusal to oust a former chairman who satirized the NAACP in a controversial blog posting.

The political action committee that raises money for Republican candidates was booted from the National Tea Party Federation for refusing to rebuke spokesman Mark Williams, whose posting referred to NAACP president Benjamin Jealous as “Tom’s nephew and NAACP head colored person.”

Tea Party Express coordinator Joe Wierzbicki said it was “arrogant and preposterous” for the federation to expel his group.

“Circular firing squads of groups within the tea party movement attacking one another accomplish nothing, and on this issue the Tea Party Federation is wrong,” he said.

The friction highlights fault lines within the loosely jointed tea party movement, which has no central organization or bylaws. Internal squabbling could weaken its political clout, and it comes at a time when the NAACP and others have sought to discredit the movement.

Other Tea Party Express officials tried to distance the group from Williams but stopped short of expelling him.

Williams “may speak on behalf of us in some circumstances, in some situations, and we may agree on some things,” Tea Party Express Chairwoman Amy Kremer said during an appearance in Anchorage. “This is not one of the things that we agree upon.”