The Real Story of How the TN GOP Followed the Party’s Bylaws to Disqualify Three Candidates from the TN-5 Primary Ballot

Many national and local news outlets have reported inaccurately about the process by which the Tennessee Republican Party (TRP) disqualified three candidates from the August 4, 2022 GOP primary ballot in Tennessee’s 5th Congressional District on April 19, 2022.

In the immediate aftermath of this decision made by the TRP in accordance with its bylaws and the laws of Tennessee, Robby Starbuck (legal name Robert Starbuck Newsom), one of the three disqualified candidates, delivered a series of press interviews and social media statements in which he made false claims about the integrity of the TRP’s process in handling his disqualification.

Among the potentially defamatory statements made about the TRP and members of the State Executive Committee (SEC) by Starbuck since his permanent removal from the August 4 Republican primary ballot in TN-5 are the following:

MORE (from the Tennessee Star, NOT The Tennessean)