Trump offers endorsement to Morgan Ortagus for House campaign in Tennessee

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“I am told the very strong and impressive Morgan Ortagus is exploring a run for Congress in Tennessee’s 5th Congressional District. I couldn’t be happier because she’s an absolute warrior for America First and MAGA!” Trump said in a statement released by his Save America PAC.

“Morgan was fantastic in her role working with Secretary Mike Pompeo at the U.S. State Department and understands the threats posed by China, Russia, Iran and others, and will be tough, not just roll over like the Democrats and RINOs,” he added. “She serves in the U.S. Navy Reserves and will fight for our Military. She won’t bow to the Woke Mob or the Leftist LameStream Media. Morgan Ortagus will have my Complete and Total Endorsement if she decides to run!”

Ortagus responded to Trump on Twitter, thanking him for his words. She did not declare any intention to run.

“Thank you, President Trump! It was an honor working for the #AmericaFirst agenda in your administration. Like you, I’ll always fight for American greatness,” she said.

By some accounts, Ortagus is working with Ward Baker, the founder and president of Baker Group Strategies who has helped other candidates as an adviser, including Tennessee Sens. Marsha Blackburn and Bill Hagerty.

The Washington Examiner reached out to Baker for comment.

Ortagus was sworn in as State Department spokeswoman April 3, 2019, for her third stint of service in the executive government. She is “a seasoned foreign policy professional and an active U.S. Naval Reserve Officer, has worked her entire career in financial services, consulting, and diplomacy,” according to her archived agency biography.

Ortagus boasts credentials in the private sector, time as a national security contributor at Fox News, is a senior adviser for the Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security, and in February 2021 joined Adam Boehler in starting Rubicon Founders, a healthcare investment firm.

Ortagus made headlines last November when she confronted Rep. Adam Schiff about his promotion of British ex-spy Christopher Steele’s now-discredited dossier on ABC’s The View.

After Trump’s statement about Ortagus spread across the airwaves Tuesday night, other people from Trump’s administration and beyond chimed in to voice their support. Among them was former national security adviser Robert O’Brien.

Cooper has held his district as currently drawn since 2003, and he represented a similar Nashville area district from 1983 to 1995. He was first elected to Congress in 1982 at just 28 years old. He lost a 1994 Senate bid to Republican Fred Thompson.

In revealing that he won’t seek reelection this year, Cooper said in his statement Tuesday that his “strength at the polls” couldn’t overcome a state Legislature set on “dismembering Nashville.”

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Robby Starbuck, a Republican transplant from California who announced last year that he would run in Cooper’s district, already has endorsements from high-profile GOP figures, including Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul.

Rep. Madison Cawthorn, a Republican in North Carolina closely aligned with Trump, tweeted Tuesday that he still supports Starbuck.

Candace Owens, a conservative commentator, said Trump “has this completely wrong” and called Starbuck the “right pick.”

Other candidates include Nashville businessman Quincy McKnight on the Republican side and community activist Odessa Kelly vying for the Democratic nomination.