Former CIA Operative Evan McMullin Launching Anti-Trump Bid for President

ARLINGTON, VA — The GOP's anti-Trump movement isn't giving up, and now it has a candidate to push as an alternative: Arlington resident Evan McMullin, a CIA veteran and chief policy director of the House Republican conference, according to multiple media outlets. It would be an interesting choice, considering he's never even held elective office before.

Donald Trump, the Republican nominee for president, has alienated many in the Republican Party with his bombastic style and policy stands that don't look much like a typical conservative Republican platform, and many in the party are trying to figure out how to wrest control of the party's future from him.

Besides never having been elected to office before, McMullin is also an odd choice because he doesn't have much of a public profile. The 40-year-old rarely appears on television and, according to BuzzFeed, had just 135 followers on Twitter before news broke of his campaign. As of Monday morning, he has more than 8,000 followers.

"Former CIA operative, businessman, House Chief Policy Director," his Twitter profile states. "Standing up to run for president because it’s never too late to do the right thing."

His last tweet was on July 21, when he slammed Trump as an "authoritarian" who "uses promises of law & order to justify infringing on civil rights as they consolidate control by force."

After news broke of his candidacy, McMullin released a statement titled "My Letter to America" that argues the choices presented to Americans are bad and that is what prompted him to step into the ring.

Hillary Clinton was the first person he ripped in the letter, calling the Democratic nominee a "corrupt career politician who has recklessly handled classified information in an attempt to avoid accountability and put American lives at risk including those of my former colleagues." Then, he turned his ire toward Trump.

"Donald Trump appeals to the worst fears of Americans at a time we need unity, not division," McMullin states. "Republicans are deeply divided by a man who is perilously close to gaining the most powerful position in the world, and many rightly see him as a real threat to our Republic. Given his obvious personal instability, putting him in command of our military and nuclear arsenal would be deeply irresponsible. His infatuation with strongmen and demagogues like Vladimir Putin is anathema to America values. We cannot and must not elect him."

The Washington Post reported that two GOP strategists with experience in third-party ballots are helping to launch a new super PAC to boost McMullin's independent bid for the White House.

McMullin gave a TEDx talk about genocide at the London Business School in April, and he also gave a speech about the future of the Republican Party, which you can watch below.

Image via the official Twitter account of Evan McMullin