Top RNC evangelical official resigns

The Republican National Committee’s (RNC) director of evangelical outreach has resigned, citing his treatment from within the group.

The Associated Press obtained a copy of Chad Connelly’s resignation email, in which he criticized new RNC officials and claimed he was treated poorly.

“The treatment I received from the new political department has been disrespectful, antagonistic and unacceptable,” Connelly wrote in the email. “GOP Faith in general and me in particular, just don’t have the priority I anticipated.”

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The RNC rejected Connelly’s claim, saying his departure was due to his job performance. 

“Chad failed to meet simple metrics, expectations, and responsibilities crucial to his duties at the RNC. Because of the importance of faith engagement to the RNC, it was time to move in a new direction in the department in order to expand our efforts,” RNC political director Juston Johnson said, according to the AP.

Connelly said in his email that he “truly was stunned at the treatment I received but mostly at the tone deaf attitude toward” religious voters from RNC officials.

The RNC hired Connelly as its director of evangelical outreach in 2013, following a recommendation in the party’s post-2012 election “Growth and Opportunity Project,” according to CNN.

In his resignation email, Connelly emphasized the importance of faith-based voters, saying that “pastors and faith leaders and people sitting in pews are THE key element in winning elections.”  

“We have learned and re-learned those lessons and unfortunately, it appears that your political department would want us to learn it again,” Connelly wrote, according to the AP.

President Trump won the evangelical vote by historic margins in 2016, capturing 81 percent of the white evangelical vote. Former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton received just 16 percent of the white evangelical vote.

In August, a member of Trump’s Evangelical Advisory Board resigned from his role on the board, citing “a deepening conflict in values” with Trump’s administration.