WASHINGTON — Sen. Jon Ossoff of Georgia is standing by a controversial jab he made about President Donald Trump and executive assistant Natalie Harp, even as the remark continues to draw criticism from conservatives.
Speaking at a rally in Georgia on Sunday, the Democratic senator said Trump wanted to “build his ballroom and travel with Natalie,” a line critics said appeared to suggest an inappropriate relationship between the president and Harp.
The comment alluded to reports that Harp was among the small group of people who accompanied Trump on a previously undisclosed flight out of Turkey to last month’s NATO summit, a trip that came amid concerns about a possible Iranian attack.
The remark quickly set off backlash on the right, with conservative commentators accusing Ossoff of trafficking in sexist and offensive innuendo. Ossoff, however, has not backed away.
“It’s been amazing to watch this White House melt down over this all week about Natalie Harp,” Ossoff said Wednesday on MS Now’s “The Last Word.”
He went on to defend his criticism of Trump’s inner circle, saying, “These White House staffers are adults, public officials paid by the taxpayer with immense power in positions of public trust,” while accusing Harp of “printing out Donald Trump’s daily dose of delusion and flattery.”
Harp has been referred to as Trump’s “human printer” because she has reportedly traveled with a printer to provide him with hard copies of news articles. She also assists with drafting some of his Truth Social posts and performs other related duties.
“No one cares about their feelings,” Ossoff said, referring to Trump’s aides.
“The sailors on the Lincoln are fighting his war, a war based on lies while he plays with his new ballroom, flies around on a jet given to him by a foreign prince, and retreats into this circle of sycophantic aides who tell him every day what he wants to hear, not what he needs to hear,” Ossoff added.
“This entire White House is responsible for lying the country into war, and for the rest of their careers, they will be known for having participated in this obscenity.”
Ossoff’s attack on Harp quickly went viral on social media and drew a deluge of media stories on her history with Trump.
His jab prompted White House Communications Director Steven Cheung to bash “Jon Jerkoff” as “the biggest cuck loser in politics”
Trump himself ripped into the Georgia senator as Pee-wee Herman, in a reference to the character played by Paul Reubens. The president has frequently used that line of attack against Ossoff.
“No, I would much rather do other things,” Trump told reporters this week, referring to traveling with Harp and working on the White House ballroom project.
“We are building a great facility here.”
Ossoff is widely seen as the most vulnerable incumbent Democratic senator heading into the 2026 midterm elections. But polls largely show him leading memester Rep. Mike Collins (R-Ga.)
