Senator who may run for president faces criticism for 'vile' remark he made about Trump aide Natalie Harp

White House aide Natalie Harp flanked by Vice President JD Vance and President Trump.

U.S. Senator Jon Osoff of Georgia is facing a torrent of criticism for remarks he made over the weekend about a White House aide, with many saying the comments amounted to the very type of sexism that Democrats usually criticize from others.

Ossoff, a Democrat who is seeking a second term as senator and is widely seen as a 2028 White House hopeful, was at a campaign event in Georgia when he took a swipe at President Trump that was also loaded with innuendo aimed at White House aide Natalie Harp. "He 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," Ossoff said.

He was referring to Natalie Harp, 35, a White House executive assistant who often travels with Trump, keeps him apprised of media coverage and does some of the posting on the president's Truth Social account. 

"Natalie Harp is a bone cancer survivor who only lived because Trump greenlit the right to try an experimental treatment when you were terminal," conservative activist Robby Starbuck said. "I met her back then. She went to work for him after recovery." Starbuck was referring to Harp taking advantage of Trump's "right to try" policy during his first term, which allowed terminally ill cancer patients to use experimental treatments, according to The New York Post. Harp has lauded the access to experimental drugs with being instrumental in her recovery and saving her life.  

Jon Ossoff speaking at a campaign even where he took a shot at White House aide Natalie Harp.

"I don’t think any woman would want to travel with Ossoff. Natalie is smart, professional and successful. Ossoff has to make a sexist remark," Mercedes Shlapp, a former White House adviser to Trump and a Republican strategist said in a post on X.

Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna of Florida said Osoff's "comments regarding Natalie Harp were both sexist 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. "Congressman Brandon Gill of Texas said Ossof's insinuation about Harp was "vile."

Even so-called feminists, like Tina Brown, the former top editor at The New Yorker and Vanity Fair, piled on after Ossoff's comments, writing in her newsletter that she wondered if "Natalie’s devotion to Trump had morphed into something deeper than being his so-called 'human printer,'” and compared Harp to Unity Milford, a British aristocrat who was known as a "devoted Hitler groupie."

Trump, when asked about the comments, demurred. "You mean Pee-wee Herman? Pee-wee Herman look-alike?" Trump said, a reference to previous jabs he's taken at Osoff for his resemblance to the iconic Paul Reubens character. Not all of the criticism lobbed at Osoff has been measured, however. 

“Instead of denigrating hard working people serving their country, Jon should look deep into his soul and ask himself why he’s a miserable person who hates this country,” White House communications director Steven Cheung said in a post on X. “It’s because he’s a radical, extremist Dumocrat.” Cheung denounced Osoff as "Jon J***off" and “the biggest cuck loser in politics.”