White House officials accused Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff of Georgia of making a sexist insinuation about President Donald Trump’s executive assistant Natalie Harp during an Aug. 16 reelection rally in Atlanta.
Ossoff told supporters that Trump “doesn’t want to do the job” and instead wants to build his ballroom and “travel with Natalie” aboard an aircraft gifted by Qatar’s emir, Fox News reported. Although he did not use Harp’s surname, critics widely understood the reference to target the 35-year-old aide.
A CBS News profile identifies Harp as a special assistant and executive assistant to the president. She frequently travels with Trump and has been nicknamed the “human printer” for supplying him with printed news and messages. Harp, a bone cancer survivor, said at the 2020 Republican National Convention that Trump’s Right to Try law helped her access experimental treatment.
White House spokesman Davis Ingle called Harp one of Trump’s most loyal and hardworking aides, then dismissed Ossoff as a “lightweight loser.” White House communications director Steven Cheung issued a more vulgar personal attack. Other Republican officials accused Ossoff of demeaning a qualified woman.
Trump responded Aug. 17 by calling Ossoff a “Pee-wee Herman look-alike.” He did not address the alleged insinuation directly but defended the White House ballroom project.
Ossoff later told MS NOW host Jen Psaki that Trump retreats into a bubble of aides who function as his “security blanket” and tell him what he wants to hear. He said the criticism applied to multiple senior White House aides.
The controversy adds a personal edge to Ossoff’s November reelection race against Republican Rep. Mike Collins of Georgia. Axios described the episode as a test of whether Democrats want candidates who match Trump’s confrontational style or maintain a more restrained approach.
