Former State Department spokesperson Morgan Ortagus is “answering the call to service” running in Tennessee’s Fifth Congressional District.
The Trump-backed candidate announced her bid to represent Middle Tennessee, including parts of Nashville, during a recent appearance on Fox & Friends.
Republicans see an opening to flip the seat after incumbent Congressman Jim Cooper (D-TN) declared he won’t seek a sixth term. Under proposed redistricting plans, the seat reportedly becomes a R+15 district.
"As a U.S. Navy Reserve Officer, I am answering the call to service, and I will never back down from fighting for my country and the good people of Tennessee to stand for American greatness," Ortagus said in an official press release.
I recently spoke to the first-time candidate about her announcement, her campaign platform, and her assessment of the Biden administration thus far.
Ortagus Hits Back at Critics Who Question Her Credentials
“I love getting in the fight because I think that we are fighting for things that really matter to my friends and neighbors here in Tennessee,” she told me.
Following President Trump’s endorsement of Ortagus, supporters of her primary opponent, Robby Starbuck, also a Nashville-area transplant, accused her of being insufficiently conservative and a carpetbagger.
I asked Morgan to respond to these accusations, to which she replied, “I think I earned President Trump's endorsement because he knows my conservative record and he knows my record of being able to fight for him.”
“I spent years representing the America First foreign policy agenda of President Trump overseas,” the former Maverick PAC co-chair explained. “I have a long record of serving my country. And, I think— as President Trump and many people who worked for him would tell you—that I've always been a consistent fighter for him.”
Ortagus shot back at critics further saying she and her family, like thousands of others, have relocated to Tennessee to get away from blue state policies.
“I love Tennessee,” she added. “We moved to Nashville to give my daughter a better life. To be in a place where, you know, she can grow up next to people with conservative values. And I think a lot of people have moved to Nashville, also, for that same reason, right? Those are the things that America is founded on: moving to a place where your family can be free, where your family can make the decisions that's best for them and not to be canceled by the woke mob for doing so.”
Undoubtedly, she’s a formidable candidate. Why? The Tennessean reports Ortagus also hired Ward Baker, the Republican strategist “who steered the successful campaigns for U.S. Sens. Marsha Blackburn and Bill Hagerty in 2018 and 2020, respectively.”
Ortagus Signals Support for School Choice, Freelancers
In addition to supporting traditional conservative positions, Ortagus expressed support for school choice and opposition to the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act.
The new mom is sympathetic to the “fund students, not systems” movement, because union control over public schools “hurts underprivileged children the most.”
“We really need to give parents the ability to homeschool [and] to choose a religious school. Maybe the public charter school is the best option,” she elaborated. “Education starts in the home. It should be led by the parents, and they should have the choice—not the government—about what their children are being taught.”
According to available data from the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development, 40.6% of the Nashville metropolitan area’s 300,000 plus workers are freelancers.
Ortagus welcomes the freelance economy and would protect their interests, if elected.
“Listen, the gig economy is great for many people,” the Rubicon Founders partner proclaimed. “People also want flexibility when they have small children at home. And that's the kind of thing that I think we should incentivize.”
Ortagus on Biden Being Putin’s Puppet, War in Ukraine
The first-time candidate has no regrets working for President Trump, declaring foreign policy under their administration “was the best since Ronald Reagan.”
I brought up President Biden’s many concessions to Russia and if his actions make him, not President Trump, the actual Vladimir Putin puppet.
“He [Biden] and his team spent his first year sort of chasing Putin around the world trying to get him to negotiate,” she replied. “They caved right away on big things and when you cave early on big things like the stuff you talked about, like Magnitsky—especially Nord Stream 2. When you cave on big things and dictators see that you're willing to give an inch here, an inch there—right? And then all of a sudden you're looking at a year later, you've given all these inches. A year later, Russia has over 100,000 troops at Ukraine's border.”
“I have said plenty of times that Ukraine is not a part of NATO. We should not be committing American troops there,” she stressed. “I believe in a strong NATO. I think it's important, but America can't be the only one that believes in a strong NATO.”
Learn more about Morgan Ortagus’ campaign online and watch the full interview here.
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