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source_url: https://www.atlantanewsfirst.com/2026/08/18/flying-palace-vs-pee-wee-herman-ossoff-trump-feud-explodes-georgia-senate-race/
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‘The Flying Palace’ vs ‘Pee-wee Herman’ | Ossoff, Trump feud explodes in Georgia Senate race
A weekend campaign rally comment about executive assistant Natalie Harp has set off a bitter social media firestorm.
ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) — Georgia’s Senate race was already one of the most-watched 2026 midterms. Now, it has evolved into an intense feud after Sen. Jon Ossoff publicly targeted one of President Donald Trump’s closest personal aides, prompting a sharp Oval Office retort from the president comparing the senator to “Pee-wee Herman.”
The current firestorm erupted during a [weekend campaign rally in Atlanta](https://www.atlantanewsfirst.com/2026/08/17/ossoff-rallies-supporters-midtown-georgia-senate-race-enters-final-months/), where Ossoff was criticizing the president’s foreign policy decisions. Ossoff accused Trump of neglecting his duties while military service members were deployed abroad.
“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,” Ossoff declared.
But it was his next line that set off the political explosives:
“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.
Ossoff was referring to Natalie Harp, the president’s executive assistant. The “flying palace” remark referred to a highly publicized incident in Turkey last month, in which Trump reportedly made a secret plane switch to bypass security threats, taking only a small circle of aides with him.
The reaction from the Trump camp was swift and personal.
Asked by reporters in the Oval Office to respond to Ossoff’s remarks, President Trump fired back: “You mean Pee-wee Herman? Pee-Wee Herman look-alike?”
The White House press shop took the insults even further on social media. White House Communications Director Steven Cheung lashed out at Ossoff on X (formerly Twitter), calling him a “miserable person who hates this country,” while White House spokesperson Davis Ingle dismissed Ossoff as a “cringeworthy, feminine theatre kid cosplaying as Barack Obama.”
What a coward. Own your sexist joke, bro.
— Scott Jennings (@ScottJenningsKY)[https://t.co/YyYPLPA11T][August 18, 2026]
The sharp undertone of Ossoff’s initial remarks also drew criticism from conservative commentators. CNN pundit Scott Jennings posted online that targeting a young female staffer was “pretty ugly stuff” and a poor look for a party that brands itself as championing women in politics.
This is quite a message for the Democratic Party to send to young women working in politics. Party of women? Pretty ugly stuff.
— Scott Jennings (@ScottJenningsKY)[https://t.co/2v7cMh9IzC][August 17, 2026]
Ossoff was set to campaign Tuesday in Columbus with U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona and his wife, former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords.
Ossoff and his GOP opponent this fall, U.S. Rep. Mike Collins, have accepted invitations to participate in an [exclusive, live debate](https://www.atlantanewsfirst.com/2026/08/05/atlanta-news-first-host-exclusive-georgia-us-senate-debate-between-jon-ossoff-mike-collins/) on Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026.
The one-hour debate will take place at [Assembly Atlanta](https://assemblyatlanta.com/), Gray Media’s state-of-the-art studio production facility. The broadcast will air live at 7 p.m. on [Atlanta News First](https://www.atlantanewsfirst.com/) and on [Gray Media](https://graymedia.com/) television stations in all Georgia markets, providing voters statewide with direct access to the candidates.
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