A former Trump administration official accused a GOP Tennessee lawmaker of anti-Semitism late Tuesday after she and two other congressional candidates were kicked off the primary ballot by the state Republican Party on Tuesday.
Former State Department spokesperson Morgan Ortagus — who was endorsed by the 45th president prior to announcing her campaign in February — was booted by the party’s executive committee along with Baxter Lee and Robby Starbuck, The Tennessean reported.
GOP officials told the newspaper last week that the three hopefuls had been accused of violating party bylaws, which require candidates to have voted in three of the last four statewide Republican primaries.
Ortagus called the vote “deeply disappointing,” saying she was “a bona fide Republican by their standards, and frankly, by any metric.”
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, accompanied by Ortagus, speaks at a news conference at the State Department in Washington, DC, on June 10, 2020. ANDREW HARNIK/POOL/AFP via Getty Images
Ortagus had been criticized for launching a bid for the House of Representatives mere months after moving to the state. Riccardo Savi/Getty Images for Concordia Summit
Ortagus was among three congressional candidates kicked off the primary ballot by the Tennessee Republican Party. Instagram / Morgan Ortagus“I’m further disappointed that the party insiders at the Tennessee Republican Party do not seem to share my commitment to President Trump’s America First policies,” Ortagus added. “As I have said all along, I believe that voters in Middle Tennessee should pick their representative — not establishment party insiders. Our team is evaluating the options before us.”
In a subsequent statement, Ortagus rounded on Republican state Sen. Frank Niceley, who spearheaded a newly enacted law requiring US House and Senate candidates from Tennessee to have lived in the state for at least three years. The law would not have applied to Ortagus, since she announced her candidacy before it took effect.
“I don’t think Trump cares one way or the other,” Niceley told NBC News last month about the possibility of Ortagus being removed from the ballot. “I think Jared Kushner — he’s Jewish, she’s Jewish — I think Jared will be upset. Ivanka [Trump] will be upset. I don’t think Trump cares.”
Ortagus was endorsed by former President Donald Trump. Mandel Ngan/Pool Photo via AP, File
Ortagus called the vote “deeply disappointing.” Yasin Ozturk/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images“Anti-Semitism is the oldest and one of the most vile forms of hatred on this earth, and Senator Niceley should be ashamed of his repeated anti-Semitic rhetoric,” Ortagus tweeted Tuesday. “I am incredibly proud to call myself a part of the Jewish people.”
Niceley drew national attention last week when he invoked Adolf Hitler in a speech about homelessness.
Ortagus had been criticized for launching a bid for the House of Representatives mere months after moving to the Volunteer State last year. She was running in the newly drawn Fifth District and seeking to fill the seat vacated by retiring Democratic Rep. Jim Cooper.
The primary election is Aug. 4.
