Trump's Va. campaign chair Corey Stewart fired for organizing protest outside RNC
WASHINGTON - The Donald J. Trump campaign confirms it has fired Corey Stewart as chairman of its Virginia campaign after organizing a protest outside the Republican National Committee headquarters in Washington D.C. on Monday.
The protest was filled with mostly women who spoke about their support for Trump and the fact that their support has not changed since audio of crude comments made by Trump and "Today" show host Billy Bush about women was leaked on Friday. But unexpectedly, a woman, who identified herself as Julia Haller, the Northern Virginia Field Director for the Trump campaign, walked up to the crowd and pleaded with the group to stop the protest.
"If you love Mr. Trump, please go home," Haller requested from the crowd.
Stewart, the Virginia State Chairman for the Trump campaign, did not appear to speak with Haller, but instead took the megaphone to address the crowd. Stewart said he would not let the establishment stop the Trump movement.
"When we chose Mr. Trump, they -- the Republican elites in this building -- cannot take that away," Stewart addressed the protest crowd.
He also announced that his job had been threatened for organizing the rally held outside of the RNC.
After Stewart's remarks were made, he showed FOX 5’s Ronica Cleary a series of threatening text messages that Stewart said prove that they referred to David Bossey, the deputy campaign manager for the Trump campaign. The text said, "Corey call Bossie. Don't do this protest... I didn't know about this till recently. There will be major consequences."
Bossie issued the following statement:
Trump campaign chairman Kellyanne Conway added:
When asked if Trump would stand behind him, Stewart replied, "I don't know. I'm not going to put any pressure on him. All I can do is stay loyal to Mr. Trump and loyalty means calling out those who are betraying him."
Stewart posted this to his Facebook page on Monday prior to the official announcement of his firing:
Over two hours later, Stewart then posted on Facebook, "Great news! Weak-kneed establishment Republicans were pressuring the RNC to pull their support and focus on down-ticket races. We put pressure on them today to continue to support Trump. They heard us loud and clear."