April 3 (UPI) — Former Fox News contributor Morgan Ortagus has been appointed the new State Department spokeswoman, the White House said Wednesday.
“I am pleased to welcome Morgan Ortagus as our new State Department spokesperson,” Secretary of State Michael Pompeo said in a statement announcing her appointment. “Morgan brings outstanding credentials and a record of public service to the position. She has worked her entire career in financial services, consulting and diplomacy.”
Ortagus will be replacing Heather Nauert, also a Fox News alumnus, who held the position for two years before President Donald Trump picked her to head the Fulbright Program.
“Thank you, President Trump and Secretary Pompeo for the opportunity to represent the State Department and the American people,” Ortagus said in a tweet. “I look forward to helping to tell American’s story to the world.”
An active U.S. Naval Reserve officer and co-founder and managing director of Go Advisors, Ortagus’s career in a variety of sectors will be a benefit to the department, Pompeo said.
“Her experience as an intelligence analyst and public affairs officer in foreign policy and national security will benefit America,” Pompeo said in a tweet. “She’ll lead our fight to communicate and defend US foreign policy.”
The 49-year-old was also with the Department of Treasure as an intelligence analyst and began her career in government at the U.S. Agency of International Development during the Obama administration, spending several months in 2007 in Baghdad, Iraq, Pompeo said in the statement.
During the 2016 presidential election, Ortagus was a detractor of Trump, having described his behavior as “disgusting” and his demeanor as “not serious,” CNN reported.
“Morgan will no doubt help the State Department fulfil its mission of promoting and defending the Administration’s foreign policy priorities for the American people and among the international community,” Pompeo said.
