Montco Republican who was ‘swatted’ after CNN interview supporting Kamala Harris lost his position with the county GOP

Montgomery County Republicans voted Monday to oust a local committeeperson and party leader who has publicly supported Vice President Kamala Harris for president.

Matthew McCaffery, an Upper Merion Republican, was removed from his position following a Zoom hearing Monday night, days after McCaffery said he was swatted following an appearance on CNN during which he discussed his support for Harris and opposition to former President Donald Trump.

The hearing was scheduled before the swatting incident. McCaffery has become a prominent voice against Trump in the Philadelphia suburbs in recent months. Last month, he authored an opinion piece in The Inquirer detailing why he, as a veteran, couldn’t vote for Trump. His face is featured on Republicans Against Trump billboards throughout the state and he has taken an active role working with Republican organizations that oppose Trump.

Those actions, county party leaders said, violated bylaws that bar officials from actively promoting the nominee of any other party.

In a letter announcing his ouster, which McCaffery posted to X, county GOP chair Christian Nascimento says the party’s disciplinary committee believed that McCaffery would continue to violate bylaws based on his continued activism after a complaint was filed against him.

“Further, during the disciplinary hearing, a continued lack of remorse and admission that you knowingly violated the bylaws solidified the committee’s belief that similar behaviors would continue if you were allowed to retain your seats, only to the detriment of the party,” he wrote.

In his X post, McCaffery simply commented, “I guess they picked up on my apathy.”

“I thought they were cordial and professional,” he said in an interview. “I did violate the bylaws and I respect their decision.”

On Friday night, after his interview on CNN, police arrived at McCaffery’s home in an apparent “swatting” incident, in which someone calls in a fake emergency to draw police to a specific address, according to video McCaffrey posted to X. Upper Merion police have not responded to a request for comment.