At least two state- and local-level Republicans have resigned or left the Republican Party over President Donald Trump’s performance at a press conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday.
A county Republican Party chairman, Chris Gagin, serving in southeast Ohio, announced he was resigning via Twitter on Monday, explicitly citing Trump’s remarks at the press conference as rationale for his departure, saying he could no longer support Trump’s agenda as a Republican Party leader, Cleveland.com was first to report.
I remain a proud conservative and Republican, but I resigned today as Belmont Co Ohio GOP Chairman. I did so as a matter of conscience, and my sense of duty.
— Chris Gagin (@cgagin) July 16, 2018
The President is entitled to GOP party leaders, at all levels, fully committed to his views and agenda. Following today’s press conference with Pres. Putin, as well as certain policy differences, most especially on trade, I could no longer fulfill that duty. Thus, I resigned.
— Chris Gagin (@cgagin) July 16, 2018
In Iowa, a former state lawmaker and retired Air Force pilot, Ken Rizer, said he was leaving the Republican Party because of Trump’s “erratic and misguided leadership” on foreign affairs, according to the Des Moines Register.
Several former intelligence officials, including former FBI Director James Comey and Former CIA Director John Brennan, have called on “patriots,” including members of Trump’s national security team, to resign in objection to Trump’s behavior at the summit. Following a closed-door, one-on-one meeting with Putin, Trump shocked the masses by publicly offering his support of Putin’s denial of Russian meddling and blaming both the U.S. and Russia for the decline in relations between the two nations.
