Ossoff’s remarks on Trump aide at campaign rally spark backlash

(The Daily Signal) – At a campaign rally in Atlanta, Sen. Jon Ossoff fired shots at one of President Donald Trump’s top aides who runs his Truth Social account. Now some on the right are firing back, accusing the Georgia senator of being “sexist.”

While onstage at the rally, Ossoff told the crowd, “He [Trump] doesn’t want to do the job. He wants to build his ballroom and travel with Natalie on their apparently defenseless flying palace gifted by the emir of Qatar.”

The senator’s disparaging remarks reference Natalie Harp, a top White House aide who manages Trump’s posts on Truth Social. Harp was one of two people with the president when he boarded an alternate plane to escape a suspected assassination plot during his recent trip to Turkey for a NATO summit.

Prior to Trump switching planes at the instruction of the Secret Service, American intelligence officials had singled out potential threats from Iranian surface-to-air missiles and a potential shoulder-fired missile.

Ossoff’s characterization of the event as Trump traveling with Harp on a “flying palace” has prompted sharp responses, including some who are accusing the senator of being sexist.

“He did not name any of the male aides who routinely travel with the president. That selective targeting of a woman is the definition of a sexist cheap shot,” Georgia Republican Party Chairman Josh McKoon told the Daily Signal. “Sen. Ossoff owes Natalie Harp a clear and public apology.”

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin also came to Harp’s defense, saying the aide is a highly respected member of the president’s team.

“Natalie Harp is an incredibly hardworking, talented, principled, and loyal member of the Trump Admin who passionately wants to help our nation thrive. Every day, she brings drive and focus to her work serving our country. She’s truly a phenomenal member of POTUS’ team,” Zeldin wrote Monday on X.

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., likewise criticized Ossoff on X, calling his comments both sexist and “misogynistic.”

“@SenOssoff comments regarding Natalie Harp were both sexists and misogynistic. John, attractive women can be qualified, hard workers, and in positions of power. Your gross implication otherwise only highlights your own insecurity and guilty conscience. I feel bad for your staff if this is what you think of women,” she wrote.

While Ossoff’s supportive audience cheered when he made his remarks, others, such as McKoon, said the senator was simply picking on a private citizen without cause.

“Natalie Harp is a private citizen and hardworking White House aide who survived bone cancer and credits the Right to Try law signed by President Trump with helping save her life,” he said.

Harp’s support for Trump came out in 2019 while she was battling bone cancer, and she said on stage at a conference in Washington, D.C., that “[Trump] gave up his quality of life so we could live and work and fight with dignity—because he believes in survival of the fighters, not the fittest.”

Her appreciation of the president is owed in part to his support of Right to Try legislation, which gives patients with life-threatening conditions access to investigational drugs, biologics, or medical devices that have yet to receive final approval from the Food and Drug Administration.

The controversy comes as Ossoff is in a competitive Senate race against U.S. Rep. Mike Collins.

The Ossoff campaign did not return the Daily Signal’s request for comment.