Tag: Morgan Ortagus

Carpetbagger Morgan Ortagus Dodges Questions from The Tennessee Star: ‘You Need to Stop Being Mean to Me’

Aaron Gulbransen

The former State Department spokesman and candidate in the GOP primary for Tennessee’s Fifth Congressional district is clearly feeling the pressure of and takes issue with The Tennessee Star’s reporting on her parachute candidacy, telling The Star, “You need to stop being mean to me.” Ortagus did not take questions from The Star about her campaign.

Carpetbagger Morgan Ortagus made her unprompted remark to The Star as several people were milling about the room after a local Republican meeting of the Bellevue Breakfast Club, which took place Saturday morning at Plantation Pub. On several occasions prior to the unprompted remark, Ortagus campaign staff told The Star that she didn’t have time for questions about her campaign. Campaign staff made it clear that they would not allow The Star to ask Ortagus questions about the campaign. If allowed, The Star would have asked if Ortagus has attained residency in the district or not.

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Ortagus Campaign D.C. Fundraiser with Never Trumpers and Fired State Dept. Staffer Still Scheduled to Take Place on Ash Wednesday

Aaron Gulbransen

Despite it falling on Ash Wednesday, sources tell The Tennessee Star Morgan Ortagus, a candidate for Tennessee’s Fifth Congressional District and former State Department spokesman, still has a scheduled out-of-state fundraiser in Washington, D.C. with a host committee that includes Never Trumpers and a fired State Department staffer who tweeted that President Trump was unfit for office.

The Star previously reported that the point of contact for the fundraising event is professional fundraiser Lisa Spies, a former staffer for Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign in 2012 and a 2016 Never Trumper who has a history of opposing President Trump.

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Challenges Filed to Eligibility of TN-5 Candidates Morgan Ortagus and Robby Starbuck to Be on GOP Primary Ballot

Aaron Gulbransen

Sources have told The Tennessee Star that the Republican bona fide statuses of Republican primary candidates for Tennessee’s 5th Congressional District seat, carpetbaggers Morgan Ortagus and Robby Starbuck, have been challenged.

The Star reached out to Tennessee GOP Chair Scott Golden to confirm that challenges have been filed against Ortagus and Starbuck. Golden confirmed that challenges have been made to Republicans in the race but he did not specify which candidates had been challenged. He also did not deny that Ortagus and Starbuck have been challenged.

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Former Brigadier General Kurt Winstead Formally Announces Candidacy for TN-5, Joining a Crowded GOP Field

Aaron Gulbransen

Former Brigadier General Kurt Winstead has formally announced his candidacy for Tennessee’s 5th Congressional District, entering the Republican primary.

Winstead formally joins the Republican field that includes former Speaker of the Tennessee House Beth Harwell, businessman Baxter Lee, Natisha Brooks, California native Robby Starbuck, and recent Tennessee immigrant and former State Department spokesman Morgan Ortagus. Maury County Mayor Andy Ogles has not yet announced whether his will enter the race or not.

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

Aaron Gulbransen

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

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

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Bannon’s WarRoom Discusses ‘Super Neo-Con’ Morgan Ortagus’ Upcoming D.C. Fundraiser ‘Filled with Trump Adversaries’

Admin

The Tennessee Star’s Aaron Gulbransen appeared on Bannon’s War Room Wednesday to discuss his report on Morgan Ortagus’ upcoming fundraiser in Washington, D.C., where the congressional hopeful will be hosted by a former Trump administration State Department staffer who was fired for tweeting that President Trump was unfit for office, as well as several NeverTrumpers.

War Room host Steve Bannon began, “Morgan Ortagus – have you heard her name? She worked for Pompeo in the State Department – a super neo-con. She’s announced. She went district shopping in to run for Congress. She found it in the great state of Tennessee.”

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Pompeo Endorses Morgan Ortagus for TN-5, But Dodges Questions on Her Carpetbagger Status

Aaron Gulbransen

Former Trump administration Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has endorsed Morgan Ortagus in the race for Tennessee’s 5th Congressional District seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.

The Tennessee Star reached out to Secretary Pompeo’s team for comment on his endorsement of Ortagus and Secretary Pompeo’s team dodged the issue of her recent immigration to Tennessee.

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Ortagus Holds Out-of-State Fundraiser in D.C., Host Committee Includes Never Trumpers and Fired State Dept. Staffer

Aaron Gulbransen

The host committee for an out-of-state fundraiser for the Morgan Ortagus for Congress campaign includes a former Trump administration State Department staffer who was fired for tweeting that President Trump was unfit for office, as well as several Never Trumpers.

Former Trump administration State Department spokesman and candidate for Tennessee’s 5th Congressional district Morgan Ortagus will be in Washington, D.C. on Ash Wednesday, March 2, 2022 to attend this fundraiser for her campaign.

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Morgan Ortagus’ Campaign Says Her ‘Voting Record Shows She Voted in Every Election’ She Was Eligible For

Aaron Gulbransen

Former Trump administration State Department spokesman Morgan Ortagus’ campaign said her voting record shows that she voted in every election she was eligible to vote in. Ortagus announced her candidacy for the GOP nomination in Tennessee’s Fifth Congressional District earlier this month.

The Tennessee Star obtained a document that is believed to be Morgan Ortagus’ New York voting records. This document shows that Ms. Ortagus voted in the 2016 GOP presidential primary and the general elections in 2014, 2016, and 2018 in New York State. According to these records, she did not vote in the NY 2018 statewide GOP primary or the NY GOP 2014 primaries.

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Quincy McKnight Drops Out of TN-5 Republican Primary, Endorses Ortagus, and Announces Run for Nashville Mayor

Aaron Gulbransen

The candidate field in the Republican primary for Tennessee’s 5th Congressional seat has shrunk, with one candidate dropping out.

In a statement given to The Tennessee Star, Nashville businessman Quincy McKnight announced that he is dropping out of the race and is endorsing former Trump administration State Department spokesman Morgan Ortagus.

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U.S. Representative Dan Crenshaw Endorses Morgan Ortagus for Tennessee’s 5th Congressional District Seat

Aaron Gulbransen

U.S. Representative Dan Crenshaw (R-TX-2)  has made an endorsement in the race for Tennessee’s 5th Congressional District seat.

Rep. Crenshaw has endorsed former Trump administration State Department Spokesman Morgan Ortagus. Crenshaw’s endorsement came when he retweeted Ortagus’ announcement video, saying “Proud to stand with you Morgan. See you in Congress.”

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Records Shock: House Hopeful Morgan Ortagus Does Not Live in the 5th Congressional District

Aaron Gulbransen
Morgan Ortagus

Records indicate that a candidate running in the Tennessee 5th Congressional District Republican primary does not live in the district.

Records read to The Tennessee Star say that former Trump administration State Department spokesman Morgan Ortagus’ current address is in the 7th Congressional District, not the 5th District that she is seeking to represent.

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Recent TN-5 Republican Primary Entrant Baxter Lee Voted in 2020 Democrat Presidential Primary

Aaron Gulbransen
Baxter Lee

Records show that a recent entrant into the race for Tennessee’s 5th Congressional District seat, businessman Baxter Lee, voted in the 2020 Democrat presidential primary. 

The Tennessee Star reached out to Baxter Lee to confirm the authenticity of the voting record supplied by the Williamson County Election Commission. Lee confirmed the records and issued a statement on his vote in the 2020 Democrat presidential primary.

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Morgan Ortagus Officially Enters GOP Primary Race in Tennessee’s 5th Congressional District

Aaron Gulbransen
Morgan Ortagus

Former Trump Administration State Department spokesman Morgan Ortagus officially announced her candidacy for the Republican nomination to represent Tennessee’s 5th Congressional District early Monday morning.

Ortagus’ campaign sent out a press release announcing the candidacy, along with a campaign video. Ortagus then joined Nashville’s Morning News with Dan Mandis to discuss her candidacy. Mandis immediately asked her about her previous comments disparaging President Trump.

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President Trump Reiterates Support for Ortagus, Says He Didn’t Know Starbuck but Heard ‘He Voted for Obama’

Aaron Gulbransen

President Donald J. Trump says he stands by his offered endorsement of Morgan Ortagus and that he didn’t know Robby Starbuck but heard that he voted for Obama.

President Donald J. Trump appeared on the Newsmax program Rob Schmitt Tonight on Tuesday. He was asked about the blowback his offered endorsement of potential candidate and former Trump Administration State Department spokesman Morgan Ortagus received.

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Ortagus Wrote in September 2016 ‘Marie Claire’ Article Trump ‘Has Demeaning Words for Women He Doesn’t Like’

Neil W. McCabe

  The former spokeswoman for Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo, who President Donald J. Trump endorsed for her possible run for Tennessee’s 5th Congressional District, co-wrote  a September 7, 2016 “Marie Claire” article, “In Defense of Melania Trump,” that criticized how Trump treats women and referred to Melania Trump’s nude modeling. “And good old-fashioned slut shaming is alive and well: Mrs. Trump was also subject to scrutiny for past nude modeling photos, despite that she was a reputable model,” wrote Samantha E. Vinogard and Ortagus, who was a media surrogate for one of Trump’s rivals for the GOP nomination that year, John E. “Jeb” Bush. Ortagus gave Jeb Bush’s campaign and his Right to Rise PAC $3,200 that cycle, and wrote other articles for the magazine with Vinogard, a CNN national security analyst and former Obama administration official. Vinogard is now a senior counselor for national security at the Department of Homeland Security and acting Assistant Secretary for Counterterrorism and Threat Prevention. The two women also worked in the article that the future First Lady was a plagiarist: It’s true: Melania Trump has been a somewhat easy target this presidential election, between cribbing parts of her RNC speech from Michelle…

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Trump’s Preferred Potential Candidate for Tennessee’s 5th Congressional District, Morgan Ortagus, Had History of Bashing Him Before Joining His Administration

Aaron Gulbransen

President Trump is strongly encouraging Morgan Ortagus to run for Congress in the race for Tennessee’s 5th Congressional District but the former state department spokesman has had strong words for him in the past.

When she was a spokeman for the Jeb Bush campaign, Morgan Ortagus referred to President Trump’s words as disgusting and expressed on MSNBC that she was unsure if she would vote for him if he was to become the Republican nominee.

Those previous comments appear to be water under the bridge for President Trump and Ortagus’ relationship. It was previously reported that President Trump issued the following statement on Morgan Ortagus’ potential candidacy:

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Conservatives Stunned: Trump Endorses Ruth Bader Ginsburg Fan Ortagus for TN-5 Seat

Neil W. McCabe

At 8:11 p.m. East Coast time, Tuesday, President Donald J. Trump sent out an email to the millions of his supporters on his list announcing that if she decides to run he will endorse Morgan Ortagus for Tennessee’s 5th Congressional District – and the conservative backlash was quick and negative.

“Ortagus and Bill Gates” by Morgan Ortagus/Instagram

“I am told that very strong and impressive Morgan Ortagus is exploring a run from Congress in Tennessee’s 5th Congressional District. I couldn’t be happier because she’s an absolute warrior for America First and MAGA!” said the president, who went on to mention her work as a press secretary for then-Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo and her service as a Navy Reserve officer.

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