Longtime conservative activist Phyllis Schlafly has asked her daughter and five others to resign from the board of Eagle Forum after tension spread through the group over Schlafly’s endorsement of Donald Trump.
Schlafly asked board members Eunie Smith, Carolyn McLarty, Anne Cori, Rosina Kovar, Shirley Curry, and Cathie Adams to step down in an April 10 letter. Cori is Schafly’s daughter. All but Curry have endorsed [crscore]Ted Cruz[/crscore] in the Republican presidential primary.
In March, Schlafly endorsed Trump. She said, “we’ve been following the losers for so long — now we’ve got a guy who’s going to lead us to victory.”
One of the members that Schlafly is asking to resign, Cathie Adams, has previously said that Schlafly’s endorsement “is going to be widely dismissed. At 91, it is just totally unfair to impose upon someone who has such a beautiful legacy. … I think this was very much a manipulation. When you’re 91 and you’re not out with the grass roots all the time, it is very much taking advantage of someone.”
Schlafly wrote in the letter that she asks for these resignations with a “heavy heart.”
“I have fond memories of our work together and our friendships. I will cherish those,” she wrote. “I ask you to resign immediately from the Board, so that I may continue with Eagle Forum’s important work.”
The Eagle Forum in a statement Saturday alleged that the six board members are “pursuing a scheme to push Phyllis Schlafly out of Eagle Forum.”
The statement referred to them as the “Gang of Six,” and accused them of plotting to meet Monday to discuss their “hidden agenda.” The Eagle Forum alleged these board members as being backed by a “big, liberal law firm.”
The statement went on to accuse the members of refusing to return calls and insulting Schlafly.
The conservative @EagleForum is having itself a little civil war pic.twitter.com/pldiaD2TJ5
— Dave Levinthal (@davelevinthal) April 11, 2016