Missouri GOP chief quits, cites threats

ST. LOUIS — The former head of the Missouri Republican Party said she resigned early because of disturbing and sometimes threatening messages she was receiving from supporters of President Donald Trump.

Jean Evans resigned last week, three weeks before her term was to end. She told KMOX on Thursday that calls from Trump supporters became more aggressive after the president lost the election in November.

Some callers demanded a military coup to keep Trump in office “no matter what it takes,” Evans said. Others wanted the party to bus people to protest in Washington, which it doesn’t do.

Evans said she was upset and disgusted but not surprised when a violent mob of Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday while Congress was certifying President-elect Joe Biden’s victory. She said she had feared that Trump wouldn’t do enough to calm his supporters.

“When you’re the executive director or member of a political party you support all of your elected officials pretty much no matter what they do,” she said. “And it got to a point where I felt like I couldn’t do that.”

Evans said the country has normalized political violence in recent months and both Republicans and Democrats are responsible for reversing that trend.

“There’s a lot of good Republicans right now who totally disagree with what’s going on,” she said. “I don’t want to label everyone affiliated with the Republican party … It’s been very scary and frightening and un-American from my perspective and definitely not part of the conservative party I embrace.”