Aug 17, 2022 - Politics

Michael Flynn is putting pressure on the Sarasota County GOP

Ben Montgomery

Portrait of Michael Flynn — Michael Flynn, who was a U.S. national security adviser under former President Trump, speaks at a campaign event for U.S. Senate candidate Josh Mandel on April 21. Photo: Dustin Franz/Getty Images

Michael Flynn is trying to oust the leader of the Sarasota County Republican Party's executive committee for not being hardcore enough.

Driving the news: Flynn recently applied to join the executive committee in the Republican-heavy county and has been targeting its head, Jack Brill, on social media, the Sarasota Herald-Tribune reports.

Background: Flynn, a retired army lieutenant general and former President Trump's first national security adviser, moved to Englewood in 2021, shortly after being pardoned by Trump for lying to the FBI.

Flynn has continued to claim that Trump won the 2020 election.

The big picture: Across the state, far-right conservatives have upped the pressure on the GOP establishment, urging more active support for Trump and conservative activism on local boards.

Zoom in: These are Flynn's most aggressive local efforts to date and "reflect a movement within the party to transform it from the bottom up," H-T political editor Zac Anderson reports.

Yes, but: State Sen. Joe Gruters, who chairs the state Republican Party, called for unity, saying disputes should be put off until after the November elections.

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Michael Flynn is putting pressure on the Sarasota County GOP

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