Less than 24 hours after The Tennessee Star asked TN-5 Congressional candidate Robby Starbuck to address questions about his voting record raised by documents obtained from Williamson County election officials, Starbuck posted a video taken from a scene out of the 2013 film, The Wolf of Wall Street, where the lead character defends himself against impending federal investigations before his employees.
In the version of the video posted by Starbuck on Saturday morning, Starbuck’s face was superimposed on the face of Jordan Belfort, played by Leonardo DiCaprio, using the audio from the movie The Wolf of Wall Street.
In 1999, Belfort pled guilty to fraud and other crimes in connection to stock market manipulation and a penny stock scam. He spent 22 months in prison as part of a plea agreement where he testified against partners and subordinates.
The Wolf of Wall Street also depicted numerous incidents of drug use and sex.
That video Starbuck posted contained a profane message, including several F-bombs.
You know what? I’m not leaving.
I’m not leaving…
I’m not F******G leaving!
The show goes on!
This is my home!
They’re gonna need a f*****g wrecking ball to take me out of here!
They’re gonna need to send in the national guard, a f*****g SWAT team because I ain’t going nowhere!”
Starbuck posted the video on Twitter and on Instagram Saturday morning. He captioned the video on Twitter:
To the Establishment,
No matter what you pull to try to keep me out of Congress — I’ll keep fighting for the people and we will WIN! The days of the establishment ruling over us are over. The voice of the people is loud & clear. Our message for you ⬇️. http://Starbuck2022.com
The Instagram caption said:
This is my message to the establishment who are trying to pull every trick in the book to make us quit. We won’t ever quit and we’re winning this.
Donate or volunteer at Starbuck2022.com (link in bio)
The video can be seen here.
The audio, with the profane language beeped out, can be heard here:
Starbuck did not address the questions raised by The Star to him on Friday regarding his qualifications to be on the August 2022 primary ballot and his voting history. The story, “Records Show Robby Starbuck Has Never Voted in a Tennessee GOP Primary, Making TN-5 Candidate Vulnerable to Ballot Challenge,” was published by The Star on Sunday.
The Star reached out to Starbuck about the video on Sunday, asking him to explain the role he and/or his campaign had in the creation and publishing of the video, if he stood by it, and if he thought that the profanity in the videos is something that will play well in a Middle Tennessee congressional district that has a high population of religious conservatives and a high church participation rate.
“My campaign didn’t fund the meme video. A supporter made it along with other funny memes. I posted it when it was sent to me because it’s a funny way to show the massive support that I’ve received over the past week from multiple lawyers who’ve worked for President Trump, Candace Owens, Rand Paul, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Madison Cawthorn, many of the most well known Trump supporters in the country and most importantly, from the voters in District 5,” Starbuck responded in an emailed statement to The Star.
Starbuck indicated that he stands by the video.
“This meme is a response to the establishment and it speaks a language that the establishment understands. I’d also note that I released the meme on social media platforms where my audience is an adult audience perfectly capable of understanding a funny meme,” Starbuck stated.
Starbuck did not respond to The Star’s question about whether he thought that the profanity in these videos is something that will play well in a Middle Tennessee district that has a high population of religious conservatives and a high church participation rate.
Instead, he stated that “taking offense to memes, that’s something I thought was reserved for the pearl clutchers at CNN and MSNBC who attacked President Trump for reposting memes made by his supporters that the left wing media found offensive.”
Starbuck also claimed that by posing the question about how well the video will play in Middle Tennessee that “the Tennessee Star was now taking offense to memes.”
Prior to Starbuck’s response to The Star’s questions about the profanity-laced video he posted on Saturday morning, Starbuck conducted an unscientific 90 minute Twitter survey of his followers, which was open to everyone on Twitter regardless of district, state, region, or country. He claims the results show that practically no one “found the video offensive.”
As The Star reported, “The new boundaries of the Fifth Congressional District approved by the Tennessee General Assembly now include parts of Davidson, Williamson, and Wilson Counties, as well as all of Maury County, Marshall County, and Lewis County. Incumbent Rep. Jim Cooper (D-TN-05) announced last week that he will not seek re-election, and a number of high profile Republicans are considering entry into the race.”
The race for the GOP nomination heated up last week when former President Trump announced that he would endorse former Trump administration State Department spokesperson Morgan Ortagus in the Fifth Congressional District primary if she decides to run. Ortagus moved to Tennessee in early 2021. Sources tell The Star she registered to vote in Tennessee in November 2021.
A number of Tennessee Republicans are reportedly considering entering the TN-5 race, including former Tennessee State House Speaker Beth Harwell, Maury County Mayor Andy Ogles, former Tennessee National Guard Brigadier General Kurt Winstead, and Nashville businessman Baxter Lee.
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Aaron Gulbransen is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Robby Starbuck” by Robby Starbuck.
Neither Michael Patrick Leahy nor The Star News Network
represent the “Republican Establishment” in Tennessee. Far from it. Mr Leahy created The Tennessee Star Report and Star News Network specifically to BUCK the “Republican Establishment” in Tennessee. Methinks Mr Starbuck doth protest too much.
I am unimpressed with his behavior. I have heard him speak and he is quite the communicator but for me that does not qualify him as a conservative. I am more interested in his character and integrity than his California credits.
So glad to see everybody in agreement here! Nothing about any of this discussion has anything to do with saving our nation from a slow and very painful death! And that is by their design!
For years as we all keep squabbling over minutia, the GOP AND the Democrats are selling us and our posterity down the toilet, and ultimately to China. All for what, a couple million bucks here or a million bucks there? And we’ve allowed it!
The GOP has conveniently adopted or changed “rules” depending on the direction of the political winds. Then they get us all arguing and divided over the nuances of some newly minted rule, and we end up with another Mitch-approved Congresswoman, like Beth Harwell. And the slide continues!
Robbie Starbuck is a Carpetbagger and a political grifter. Another Soros backed RINO trying to infiltrate Tennessee!
I encourage everyone to run for public office. I also encourage everyone to read, understand and follow the rules and not make them up as you go. If you don;t like the rules or process, follow the rules and process set forth to change them. Finally, please do not ask for the endorsement of an organization that you despise. It brings to question your sincerity to serve the public trust should you get elected. Run as an independent and skip the primary and go right to the general election. Be honest with yourself and the public.
The sad & frustrating thing is that one is not required to have voted in 3 of 4 previous GOP Primaries. That is just the easiest way to be bona fide. There is are guidelines for other measurements of bona fide Republican status in place and he would easily qualify. I just don’t understand why he isn’t direct and simply states that he didn’t vote in the TN GOP Primaries but will qualify through the other options.
And then we could focus on the issues.
Carpetbagger and his trashy video. Not impressive at all. The GOP needs someone local, a proven commodity like
Andy Ogles. A definite NO VOTE for this carpetbagger.
Merely being from TN does not prove one is a conservative. President Trump was from NY and now FL. Al Gore is from TN (Gore’s forefathers moved here before the Rev War) as are both Coopers (raised in Shelbyville and come from long generations of Tennesseans). Being from Tennessee tells voters nothing about the candidates politics, agenda and stances on the issues.
Many have moved to TN because they are conservative and their newness ought not disqualify them nor does recently moving here in and of itself make one a carpetbagger. A carpetbagger is literally defined by their purpose in coming to the South, not merely moving here. We should welcome those who come here because of our proven success with conservative policies and the economy/opportunity they provide.
However, being misleading is a red flag. If he didn’t vote in the primaries then say so. Man up and just say that he didn’t, then proceed to qualify as the rules laid out describe. He should have no problem qualifying from the rules as laid out, just not via the voting record as laid out in option 1. But why the evasive answers? Why was he not prepared for this and why preceive being asked about this basic qualifying requirements as an “attack” by the “establishment”? The rules are there as a first line of defense against RINOs and undercover Dems … both of which he is not and can easily show, therefore qualifying under the current guidelines, just not . So why the drama and fake news about “attacks”?
I hope he deals with the qualifications headon and in a straightforward way and I hope the other candidates stop with the divisive insider/outsider, from here/not from here talk that is irrelevant.
Let’s focus on the issues!
Maybe this is the way that it is done in LALA Land (or as someone else said today, California, the land of ‘fruits and nuts’), but NOT in Tennessee!
Starbuck does not have ‘the right stuff’ for the job he seeks.
I don’t care about memes. I don’t care about hairstyles or being recently from CA or having a stage name from time in show business as I hear about in the whisper campaign I care about issues …. and character.
Has he voted in 3 of the last for 4 primaries or not? Just answer the question directly.
Its not about the establishment. Its about well known, well published rules.
Also, if he didn’t vote in the last 3 of 4 primaries, just be straight forward and honest.
There is the vouching system/set of rules in place for a reason, as a back up in case someone hasn’t voted in 3 of 4 last primaries. Not a big deal … so why be evasive about primaries? I don’t get it!
He has so much potential, has worked so hard, has a great family, fantastic wife and some great ideas. I don’t understand what is happening with this issue. Hope this is resolved quickly so we can focus on issues in this primary race.
“Its not about the establishment. Its about well known, well published rules.”
What a hypocritical joke! Which set of “well known” rules are you talking about, the ones used for Democrat Eddie Mannis by the “establishment” Republicans? Maybe the GOP (generally old Plutocrats) changed the rules since then, but they DID break them when they wanted what they wanted! The GOP is like a cat-box, they can “cover” their messes all they want but those of us that put America First can still smell the lies and deceptions!
The TN GOP SEC ammended the bylaws to avoid a Mannis approval again as they did Not “break” the rules for Mannis. His approval was allowed under the former bylaws. And he is an example of someone who did not qualify under the 3 of 4 minimum GOP Primary votes but instead qualified under the vouching system as clearly laid out in the bylaws. “The GOP” did not approve him but certain GOP politicians did vouch for him. If you live in their districts call them out on this issue. Again, the bylaws have been modified since that situation. Find the TN GOP bylaws in the “about” section of the tngop.org website.
The “well known” rules are well known to anyone who asks and are available to the public on the TNGOP.org website for any and all to check – especially those interested in running for office.