Stewart issued a news release early Monday afternoon saying he and “Virginia Women for Trump” would be protesting at the RNC building at 2 p.m. and later said on Facebook that was starting a “rebellion against GOP establishment pukes who betrayed Trump.”

In an interview, Stewart said he wanted to call attention to what he claimed was an effort by the RNC to divert resources away from the Trump campaign toward down-ticket races, which he said would guarantee a Trump loss. Just before the rally, Stewart said, he received a “threatening” text message from Bossie warning him to reverse course.

“I knew very well that by refusing to do so that it could cost me the chairmanship,” Stewart said. “But I thought it was that important to call out the RNC and hopefully get them to change course.”

John Fredericks, a conservative radio host and co-chair of Trump’s Virginia campaign, said Stewart was specifically told not to take part in the protest. Fredericks suggested Stewart did it anyway to further his own political ambitions.

“We’re running a national campaign not a gubernatorial race,” Fredericks said, adding that the decision to fire Stewart was made by the campaign, not the RNC or the Republican Party of Virginia.