(CNN) Tennessee GOP state House Speaker Glen Casada faced calls on Tuesday to step down after his chief of staff resigned following reports that the top aide had made racist comments, sent sexually explicit messages to interns and allegedly tried to frame an activist. Cade Cothren, Casada's former chief of staff, resigned Monday, Tennessee House GOP spokesman Doug Kufner confirmed to CNN. On Tuesday, top Democrats in the state called for the speaker to step down as well. on Tuesday, Casada continued to vouch for Cothren's character as he confirmed the chief of staff had resigned. In a statement on Tuesday, Casada announced a new chief of staff, Scott Gilmer, would replace Cothren.

Source: CNN May 07, 2019 21:33 UTC