LANSING, Mich. — A Michigan Republican Party official who faced calls for removal after criticizing former President Donald Trump and refusing to say the election was stolen has abruptly resigned.
Jason Cabel Roe announced Wednesday he was stepping down as executive director of the Michigan GOP. “I have resigned my position as executive director and the reasons will remain between me and Chairman [Ron] Weiser. We’ve built an amazing team and I know they will be very successful in 2022. I look forward to helping any way I can,” Roe said in a text message to FOX 17.
The longtime GOP consultant and strategist faced criticism from Trump loyalists for blaming the 2020 election loss on the former president.
Some activists pushed to censure and remove Roe from his post because of his quote in a November Politico article, where Roe said the election wasn’t stolen and Trump “blew it.”
Debra Ell, a grassroots activist and Republican organizer who led the charge to remove Roe said Wednesday, “I believe he was fired not resigning. This is just beginning of the RINO Hunt."
Roe’s leaving highlights the existing divide within Michigan’s Republican Party as well as the ongoing influence of former President Trump.
Roe's thoughts on moving past November 2020 appear to clash with current MIGOP Co-Chair Meshawn Maddock, who organized buses of people to head to the Jan. 6 “Stop the Steal” rally and in recent weeks expressed disappointment that the Michigan Legislature did not conduct a “forensic audit” of the election.
"Why not inspect the ballots if there's nothing to hide?" Maddock wrote on Facebook."I’ve been in communication with Trump advisors and they wanted a different approach from our legislature. I would have preferred they waited for the results from Arizona before issuing a formal report."
Maddock did not respond to FOX 17's request for comment.
On Tuesday, Roe "liked" several posts on Twitter in which longtime GOP strategist and current member of the Michigan Board of State Canvassers Tony Daunt was quoted of applauding state Sen. Ed McBroom (R-Vulcan for standing up to the "malignancy that is Donald Trump and the people that have lacked the courage to stand up to him."
McBroom was presenting the board an outline of his Senate Oversight Committee Report Tuesday, which found no evidence of widespread or systemic fraud in Michigan's election.
