Bill Maher Praises Natalie Harp With Flattering On-Air Compliment

Bill Maher is pushing back against the wave of criticism aimed at Natalie Harp, Donald Trump’s fiercely devoted blonde aide, asking why she has abruptly become one of the country’s favorite political targets.

The comedian, long known for taking sharp aim at Trump and those closest to him, said the fixation on the 34-year-old White House staffer seemed excessive. “I don’t know why you have to go after her,” he said.

Maher also praised Harp’s apparent dedication, jokingly wondering why he could not find a Millennial for his own team who worked with the same intensity.

Harp was thrust into the political spotlight over her unusually close professional relationship with the president after Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff mocked Trump by saying he would rather “travel with Natalie” than carry out his duties.

The comment immediately drew backlash from Trump allies, who accused the Georgia Democrat of making a sexist implication about the relationship between Harp and the president.

Maher, 70, addressed the controversy during his Friday night Real Time monologue. And while he landed a few jokes at Harp’s expense, he ultimately made clear he believed the attacks on her were unfair.

“The Democratic Party has a new attack dog and he’s very good at it. Senator Jon Ossoff,” Maher said as he opened the segment.

“He really went after Trump this week and in the middle of it he mentioned Natalie Harp.”

‘That’s the young lady who works for Trump. When he got on the catering cart she came with him off the plane. So this has set all sorts of rumors going on now about their relationship.’

But Maher then warned that he was not about to venture any further into speculation about Harp and her boss having already learned an expensive lesson about making jokes concerning women close to Trump.

‘Okay, let me tell you folks, I got sued about this once,’ he said. ‘No, not the orangutan.’

That was a reference to Trump’s previous lawsuit against Maher after the comedian joked about the then-businessman’s parentage and challenged him to prove he was not the ‘spawn of his mother having sex with an orangutan.’

Maher was actually referring to his more recent legal battle with conservative activist Laura Loomer, who sued him after he joked that she and Trump could be in an ‘arranged relationship.’

‘No, this was just a couple of years ago. Laura Loomer sued me,’ Maher continued.

‘Okay, I won by the way, but it’s, uh, it’s expensive and unpleasant to get sued, so you know what, I took one for the team on this, you handle it.’

Harp’s relationship with Trump has attracted extraordinary attention because of the unusual level of access she enjoys to the president.

She is regularly photographed close to Trump and has become an almost ever-present figure in his orbit.

Maher sarcastically branded her Trump’s ’emotional support employee’ – but then turned his fire on those targeting her.

READ MORE: The Reality Behind the ‘Screaming Ghost’ Photo That Continues to Haunt Police

‘All I’m going to say… Natalie is kind of Trump’s emotional support employee, that’s true,’ he said.

‘She travels with him everywhere and she brings a portable wireless printer so she can print out flattering news articles.’

Maher could not resist another dig at the president.

‘Trump is old school,’ he joked. ‘He wants hard copies of the smoke blowing up his a**.’

But then he went on to defend Harp.

‘But that’s on him,’ Maher said. ‘I don’t know why you have to go after her, you know?’

He argued that whatever critics might think of Trump, Harp appeared to be a dedicated employee.

‘She seems incredibly devoted to her job, never takes a day off,’ Maher said.

‘Sometimes she works so hard she forgets to eat and sleep, and now everyone in America is saying the same thing: ‘Why can’t I get a Millennial who works like that?”

Behind Harp’s fierce loyalty to Trump is a deeply personal story.

She survived bone cancer in her 20s and has publicly credited the president’s first administration with helping expand access to experimental treatments that she believes helped save her life.

Maher suggested Harp had now been sucked into the vicious cycle of American politics in which a previously little-known figure can suddenly become a national target.

‘In America it’s just like, ‘oh good, someone new to hate’,’ he said.

Harp’s prominence has become increasingly difficult to miss.

She was among a select group of officials who accompanied Trump when he was moved from Air Force One to another aircraft in Turkey following an Iranian security threat.

Many Cabinet officials, journalists and other members of the traveling party were left behind while Trump and a smaller group were moved under Secret Service protection but Harp made the cut.

Her devotion to Trump has also fueled questions about just how influential she has become.

New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman said this week that the Secret Service had previously been ‘alarmed’ by some letters Harp wrote to Trump.

One of the messages reportedly included the striking declaration: ‘You are all that matters to me.’

‘The Secret Service had gotten alarmed by some of them,’ Haberman said. ‘That was not– well, that was notable. That was a campaign. That was different. She is now in the government.’

Haberman stressed that Harp’s position now extends far beyond that of an enthusiastic campaign supporter.

‘She sits 10 feet away from the president,’ she said.

‘She is a stream of information to him. He does rely on her. And I don’t expect that to change.’