Donald Trump’s candidate for Tennessee’s 5th Congressional district has scrubbed the former President from her campaign website, and appears to be in the middle of abandoning her run for Congress.
Ortagus’s Twitter biography has changed in recent weeks, since she was first removed from the ballot by the Tennessee GOP under rules concerning Republican bonafides. Other removed candidates are challenging the rules in federal court.
But Ortagus’s website, which featured multiple endorsements and mentions of former President Donald Trump, is now a simple landing page with the tag line, “Thank You” on a browser tab.
Sources close to Ortagus have confirmed to The National Pulse that the former State Department spokesman will not pursue a challenge to the ruling following advice from lawyers. Ms. Ortagus did not respond to a request for comment at the time of publication.
The would-be candidate attracted criticism for her relationships with leading left wing figures, as well as her pledge to serve President Joe Biden, has not tweeted about Tennessee or her candidacy since April 19th. Ortagus’s social media has been primarily concerned with Ukraine and Iran since.
Another candidate from her district, Robby Starbuck, announced yesterday that he is challenging the TNGOP decision to remove him, Ortagus, and Baxter Lee from the ballot.
Local GOP bylaws require candidates to have voted in three of the last four statewide Republican primaries in order to run for office.
In a statement released online on Monday, Starbuck said: “Yesterday, my team and I officially responded to the @TNGOP scheme to remove me and others from the primary ballot, with
a lawsuit in federal court. I took this major step to fight for the rights of Tennessee voters, only after the state party, in the face of a detailed legal demand and a mountain of evidence, refused to do the right thing and correct what they did wrong by disenfranchising their own voters.
“Our complaint alleges that state GOP officials used secret and irregular means to prevent a FREE and FAIR election consistent with the state party bylaws, and state and federal law. I started my campaign to fight for the people of Tennessee-and now I’m fighting for Tennesseans right to vote for whom they choose-including my opponents. I will fight with
everything I have against this illegal disenfranchisement of Republican voters.”
I have sued @TNGOP in Federal Court over my illegal removal from the ballot. I’m not going to stop fighting until our voters in Tennessee have every choice on their ballot in this election. A secret, illegal backroom vote should not overrule our voters. Freedom matters! 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/Z69zMVWMJX
— Robby Starbuck (@robbystarbuck) May 3, 2022
Ortagus, whose wedding was presided over by the late, progressive Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, was listed as a “Fmr State Dept Spokesperson [sic]” rather than candidate for Tennessee’s 5th Congressional District on her last Fox News appearance.
