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Trump's Virginia Chairman Fired, Showing Rifts Between Party and Followers in the State

Carolyn Kaster
/
AP

 

Donald Trump’s Virginia chairman has been fired. The Republican nominee’s campaign released a statement Monday saying Chairman Corey Stewart is being replaced, effective immediately. It’s a sign of growing division between Trump’s supporters and the Republican establishment. 

 

The announcement comes after Stewart organized a protest outside the Republican National Committee in D.C. In a Facebook post Monday Stewart said he was starting a “rebellion against GOP establishment pukes who betrayed Trump.”  

The protest was organized along with Virginia Women for Trump and was meant to show support for the Republican presidential nominee following a tough weekend where Republican lawmakers have bailed because of Trump's comments about women. 

Credit Carolyn Kaster / AP
/
AP
Corey Stewart, chairman of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump's Virginia campaign, right, gives the thumbs-up as he poses for a photo.

 In a statement, the Trump campaign said they have a "tremendous working relationship with the RNC (Republican National Committee)." 

Stewart has been chairman of Trump’s campaign in Virginia for almost a year, throughout the entire primary season.

In an interview on the John Frederick’s show back in February he said Trump was just what the country needed.

“That that is exactly what the country needs right now is somebody who is outspoken, not politically correct, who is going to speak bluntly without any varnish about the nation’s problems and how to fix them,” said Stewart.

In a statement, Republican Party of Virginia Campaign Chair John Whitbeck says he supports "the Trump campaign's decision to remove their Virginia chairman. With less than a month until election day, we can't afford distractions."

Corey Stewart is also in the running to be Virginia’s Governor. That election is fall of 2017. 

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