Former Trump Cabinet Member Ric Grenell Endorses Morgan Ortagus for TN-5, Pulling Prior Robby Starbuck Endorsement

Former Director of National Intelligence and the first openly gay cabinet member in U.S. History, Ric Grenell, endorsed Morgan Ortagus for Tennessee’s 5th Congressional District seat.

Prior to redistricting, Grenell had endorsed Robby Starbuck but he pulled that endorsement. Both the Ortagus campaign and the Starbuck campaign have confirmed that Grenell’s previous endorsement of Starbuck was pulled.

The Ortagus campaign released the following statement from Ambassador Grenell.

Today I am proud to endorse Morgan Ortagus for Congress. I fought on the front lines with Morgan defending the United States and putting America First. I am grateful for her willingness to once again serve the people.

Ortagus said of Grenell’s endorsement, “I’m incredibly humbled to have Ric Grenell’s endorsement! Ambassador Grenell and I worked together in the trenches to put America First, and in Congress, I’m going to continue our good work!”

This endorsement was announced while Ortagus and Grenell were at an event for President Trump-endorsed candidates at Mar-a-Lago.

The Tennessee Star reached out to Robby Starbuck for comment on Grenell’s endorsement of Ortagus. He was not surprised but touted his other endorsements.

As the co-chair of President Trump’s PAC for 2022 it’s no surprise to me that Ric Grenell had to endorse candidates that President Trump has endorsed. Tennesseans understand the politics of that situation. I’m overjoyed with the America First coalition of endorsements my campaign has received from Senator Rand Paul, Candace Owens, Rep. Thomas Massie, Williamson County Sheriff Dusty Rhoades, Rep. Madison Cawthorn, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, Charlie Kirk, AZ Gov Candidate Kari Lake, NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani, Trump Lawyer Jenna Ellis, Rep. Ken Buck, Dr. Sebastian Gorka and many more. We’ll win this race on the ground alongside the people of Tennessee.

As of this writing, it is unclear if any of Starbuck’s other endorsers will follow Grenell’s lead.

Yes, Every Kid

Grenell joins President Trump and former Trump administration colleague, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, in endorsing Ortagus.

When he left the Trump administration, Grenell joined the RNC as a senior adviser for LGBTQ outreach.

Grenell currently serves as a senior advisor for national security and foreign policy at the Christian non-profit, the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ). Former member of Trump’s impeachment legal team, Jay Sekulow, serves as chief counsel for the ACLJ.

Pompeo also works at the ACLJ, serving as senior counsel for Global Affairs.

The Star previously reported Pompeo’s team dodged the issue of Ortagus’ recent move to Tennessee when asked for comment about his endorsement, stating, “Our quote in the endorsement release stands on its own.”

The new 5th Congressional District contains parts of Davidson County, Wilson County, Williamson County, and all of Marshall, Maury, and Lewis counties.

– – –

Aaron Gulbransen is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Morgan Ortagus” by U.S. Department of State. Photo “Richard Grenell” by Office of the Director of National Intelligence. Background Photo “United States Capitol” by Martin Falbisoner. CC BY-SA 3.0.

 

 

Related posts

9 Thoughts to “Former Trump Cabinet Member Ric Grenell Endorses Morgan Ortagus for TN-5, Pulling Prior Robby Starbuck Endorsement”

  1. Deplorable Bay Stater

    I don’t live (or vote) in TN-5, or even in TN, so I’m not going to try and tell you who should be your Congressional representative, but I do have a question: Since there seems to be a lot of concern over the fact that Ortagus doesn’t actually live in the newly configured TN-5, and apparently Starbuck only moved there recently,, are there any candidates in the primary who aren’t “carprtbaggers”? Or, to put it another way, do you really have any alternative to picking one of these two? And, if the answer is no, then shouldn’t you be working on promoting the better of the two rather than throwing rocks at whichever one you happen to hate more? Or do you prefer to sink the ship just because the captain won’t let you steer it?

  2. Hugh Brooks

    Do people in the 5th District of Tennessee really care what Ric Grenell thinks? Has he ever even been to the 5th District?

  3. Mark Knofler

    Endorse away, it’s not gonna help her. She’ll be another Liz Cheney, she’ll promptly move to DC and never be in the district. When we rid ourselves of the useless Marsha Marsha Marsha, then maybe we can talk about having a do-nothing Senator.

  4. Kevin

    Who cares how many flea-invested, fly-breeding, maggot carrying DC-dwellers endorse this carpetbagger! And I don’t give a hoot who in Donald Trump’s “inner circle” still might come out and endorse her! Trump has proven over and over, that he is just as flawed, if not more so, at picking supporting cast members as I am at picking winning Lottery tickets! He should leave this stuff to the locals!

    This political fly will not get a scintilla of support from me!

  5. Truth

    It is rather sad when the people allowed to crash this primary hold the same values as liberals. You claim to stand for conservatism, but you betray yourself and the rest of us conservatives by claiming any R in office is better than a D.

    You are the same so-called conservatives that gave us Bill Lee and Bill Hagerty. You are the same so-called conservatives who go to the poll, knowing little about what the candidate really stands for. The only thing you’re concerned with is what letter is beside their name.

    You stand high in your ivory tower, looking down at your nose, passing judgement on others who don’t agree with you. Little do you know, your ivory tower is built on a foundation of sand and will eventually fall, bringing you and your flawed logic down with you and, unfortunately, everyone else too.

    So go ahead and keep supporting these carpetbagging RINOs and sellout the rest of us in the process, including your children and grandchildren. You people disgust me.

  6. LM

    What is going on?? All of these “Republicans” coming out of the woodwork for this lady – most or all of who likely never gave a flip about who was running for this position- makes me even more suspicious- not less!

  7. JRin

    Don’t vote for a carpetbagger.

    1. Cannoneer2

      Tennessee state government is already “eat up” with carpetbaggers! What makes this one so special??

Comments