Donald Trump faces a new independent conservative challenger as of Monday — a former CIA counter-terrorism officer and until Monday chief policy director on the House Republican Conference.
Evan McMullin, 40, announced his candidacy in a statement to ABC News and is expected to officially file later Monday. He told ABC that he wants to offer an alternative to GOP voters unhappy with Trump. His campaign will consist of people who worked for Better for America, a nonprofit fighting for a third-party option in the 2016 election.
“In a year where Americans have lost faith in the candidates of both major parties, it’s time for a generation of new leadership to step up,” McMullin wrote in a statement. “It’s never too late to do the right thing, and America deserves much better than either Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton can offer us.”
McMullin resigned from his position at the House Republican Conference on Monday morning to launch his bid, which the spokesman for the conference confirmed.
“The House Republican Conference has zero knowledge of his intentions,” the conference spokesman Nate Hodson said in a statement.
Starting about a month ago, McMullin tweeted and posted to Facebook a few comments showing his distaste for Trump and encouraging another option for conservative voters.
McMullin has never held an elected position. He earned his MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, worked at Goldman Sachs investment firm, spent time as a CIA officer and then started working in policy on Capitol Hill.
