A Democrat senator believed to have presidential aspirations ignited a firestorm over the weekend when he took a cheap shot at one of President Donald Trump’s closest aides.
Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA) was rallying supporters at a campaign event in Atlanta when he tried to slam Trump’s handling of the Iran war by suggesting he is spending too much time with aide Natalie Harp. The White House – and even the president himself – wasted no time clapping back at the tasteless jab as Ossoff himself has tried to dodge questions about the nature of his comment.
On Tuesday’s show, Megyn was joined by Rob Finnerty, host of Finnerty on Newsmax, to discuss the offensive remark and why it does Ossoff no favors.
The ‘Despicable’ Remark
Ossoff, who is running for reelection in November but is also said to have his eye on 2028, took aim at President Trump’s priorities at a Sunday rally.
“And while the sailors on the Lincoln fight his war, while he fruitlessly drains our munitions and oil reserves, the president sleeps through his meetings. He golfs and trades stocks. He doesn’t want to do the job,” Ossoff said of Trump. “He wants to build his ballroom and travel with Natalie on their apparently defenseless flying palace gifted by the emir of Qatar.”
“Natalie” was a reference to Harp, the 35-year-old aide and cancer survivor who spoke at the 2020 GOP convention about how a 2018 law enacted by Trump, known as “Right to Try,” gave her access to experimental treatment for her bone cancer.
Harp joined the Trump reelection campaign in 2020 before being tapped as a special assistant to the president. She is the person at Trump’s side typing out Truth Social posts and is reportedly known as the “human printer” for regularly updating the president with printouts of news articles, emails, and more. She is also believed to be one of the few people who joined him during the secret Air Force One switcheroo in Turkey last month.
The Fallout
It didn’t take long for the Trump administration to respond to Ossoff. “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 posted on X Monday.
Asked about Ossoff’s comments by a reporter in the Oval Office Monday, Trump responded, “You mean Pee-wee Herman?”
Meanwhile, the first-term senator was given a chance to clarify his remarks during an appearance on Jen Psaki’s MSNOW show Monday. When Psaki asked Ossoff why he mentioned Harp my name, he initially tried to dodge.
“[Trump] retreats into this bubble of West Wing aides who are his security blanket to make him feel good about himself, to reassure him that he’s doing a great job,” he said.
When Psaki followed up about highlighting Harp in particular, Ossoff said he had “heard things” about her. “I’ve heard this particular aide referred to as his security blanket. And I think we could say that about any number of the senior aides in the White House. They’re not telling him what he needs to hear. They’re telling him what he wants to hear,” he claimed.
What It Means for 2028
Megyn said the insinuation was crystal clear, as was Ossoff’s subsequent dodge. “This guy decides to go with the intimation – he doesn’t say it explicitly – that they’re having an affair. That’s just very clearly the intimation, and now he won’t own it,” she noted.
“Now, he just says, ‘Oh no, they’re all his security blankets,’ like he could have mentioned anybody,” Megyn explained. “I think this is despicable… Why would you attack a 35-year-old cancer survivor as a possible affair partner to the president of the United States when you have absolutely nothing to back that up?”
While Ossoff has a race to win in November, Megyn believes his sights are already set on 2028. “[He] 100 percent is thinking he is going to be on the short list for the Democrat nomination… [and] he wanted to generate some buzz as a tough guy,” she noted.
It is reminiscent, in her view, of a certain tragic 2024 vice presidential candidate. “Remember how Tim Walz got the vice presidential nomination with Kamala Harris by saying ‘weird’ over and over about J.D. Vance? I think this is Ossoff being like, ‘I’m a fighter. I can fight Trump. I fight below the belt, just like he does’… That’s how he sees it,” Megyn posited.
Finnerty agreed with the premise – and that Ossoff failed in his execution. “If you are going to be a Democrat tough guy, then you need to go all the way with your accusation. You can’t just mention Natalie Harp’s name in a speech over the weekend and leave it there. You have to say the implication,” he said.
“If Jon Ossoff was really such a tough guy, he’s such a fighter, why not just come out and say that with Jen Psaki? Be like, ‘I stand by it… The president is having an affair with Natalie Harp,'” Finnerty continued. “But he didn’t do that, which makes him even more of a coward and a weakling.”
Assuming cultivating a persona ahead of a run for the White House is really the goal, Megyn said Ossoff went about it all wrong. “If you’re gonna be this tough guy in the mold of Trump, this fighter, why don’t you just own what you said, sir? Go ahead, lean in. Let me hear you be the fighter,” she said.
“No, he just decided to sling mud against the president and Natalie – not to mention this is hurtful to [First Lady Melania Trump], potentially – and then try to wipe his hands of it and pretend he didn’t do it,” Megyn concluded. “We all know he did it. I actually think this is not a good mark for him, and I think it could come back to haunt him when he declares for president, as I think he will.”
You can check out Megyn’s full interview with Finnerty by tuning in to episode 1,381 on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you like to listen. And don’t forget that you can catch The Megyn Kelly Show live on SiriusXM’s The Megyn Kelly Channel (channel 111) weekdays from 12pm to 2pm ET.