Trump campaign to its Va. chairman: You're fired!

WASHINGTON — Donald Trump's campaign fired the head of his Virginia organization Monday after he organized what Trump's deputy campaign manager called a stunt in front of Republican National Committee headquarters.

Corey Stewart, who this past weekend defended Trump's vulgar 2005 remarks on assaulting women as frat-boy talk, staged a protest earlier Monday to complain that the national party is reallocating campaign money to congressional races instead of Trump's presidential campaign.

Scores of Republican office-holders have withdrawn their support from Trump since his recorded conversation with TV host Billy Bush, then of Access Hollywood, became public Friday. Control of the Senate and perhaps the House could ride on whether voters decide on a straight ticket or are more nuanced in their choices at the polls Nov. 8.

Stewart told fellow protesters that “those RNC-establishment pukes who have worked their way into the Trump campaign” already had threatened him with dismissal if he went through with an intraparty protest.

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"He is being replaced, effective immediately," Trump's deputy campaign manager, Dave Bossie, said in a statement. "Corey made this decision when he staged a stunt in front of the RNC without the knowledge or the approval of the Trump campaign."

Bossie did not say who would lead the Virginia Trump campaign for the next 28 days.

Stewart also is known for leading the charge against immigration and cracking down on illegal immigrants in his suburban Washington county, where he is chairman of the Prince William County Board of Supervisors. His first efforts came in 2007, and he has been re-elected three times since.

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After his dismissal, Stewart said he was willing to sacrifice his job with the Trump campaign to make the point that the GOP establishment is alienating grassroots activists who support Trump.

“My loyalty is not to political operatives. My loyalty is to Mr. Trump,” Stewart said, adding that he’ll still be working informally to help Trump win.

John Fredericks, the co-chairman and spokesman for Trump’s campaign in Virginia, said Stewart is welcome to continue working informally on Trump’s behalf. He said he understood Stewart’s frustration but that the protest was divisive.

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“There’s no question that the Trump campaign is disappointed and frustrated that so many elected officials have decided not to support the nominee,” Fredericks said. “It’s one thing to be disappointed. It’s another thing to stage a public protest.”

John Whitbeck, chairman of the Republican Party of Virginia, issued a statement supporting Stewart’s dismissal.

“This is a team effort. The Republican Party of Virginia, the Republican National Committee, and the Trump campaign are part of one team,” Whitbeck said. “With less than a month until election day, we can’t afford any distractions.”

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Stewart, who already has said he will run for governor of Virginia in 2017, had previously earned a rebuke from Trump’s national campaign. In June, Stewart said in a Facebook post that a Trump administration would take a hard-line stance against illegal immigration and “we will kick their a---- out of the country, just like we did in Prince William County.”

Trump’s campaign quickly distanced itself from Stewart’s comments.

"We have a tremendous working relationship with the RNC," Trump Campaign Manager Kellyanne Conway said. RNC "Chairman Reince Priebus has been an engaged and incredibly supportive ally to Mr. Trump throughout the campaign."

Contributing: The Associated Press. Follow WUSA-TV on Twitter: @wusa9