Virginia Senate candidate Corey Stewart (R) fired a top campaign aide who helped bring far-right ideas to Stewart’s campaign.
Stewart confirmed to the Richmond Times-Dispatch that Noel Fritsch is “no longer with the campaign as of Aug. 31,” the Times-Dispatch reported. Stewart did not tell the newspaper why Fritsch had been let go.
{mosads}Fritsch previously shared several conspiracy theories and racist sentiments on social media, according to CNN. He promoted a conspiracy theory that Democrats were responsible for the death of Democratic National Committee staffer Seth Rich, shared anti-Muslim sentiments and criticized NPR for discussing LGBT people, CNN reported.
Fritsch also previously worked for Paul Nehlen, an anti-Semitic candidate in Wisconsin who ran against Speaker Paul Ryan (R), and Roy Moore, the former GOP Senate candidate in Alabama accused of pursuing relationships with women when they were teenagers.
Stewart is running against Sen. Tim Kaine (D) in the general election for the Virginia Senate seat.
Stewart has been accused of white supremacy and promoting racist views because of alleged ties to white nationalists. He has previously defended Confederate monuments in Virginia.
He previously called Michigan gubernatorial candidate Abdul El-Sayed (D) an “ISIS commie” in a since-deleted tweet and said NFL players who kneel for the national anthem are “thugs”.