Republican U.S. Senate candidate Rep. Mike Collins is going scorched earth, accusing his Democratic opponent Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., of making a "sexist" and "misogynist" viral remark involving a female cancer survivor working in the Trump White House.
Ossoff, a 39-year-old freshman senator running for re-election in Georgia, drew criticism after making a remark about White House aide Natalie Harp during an Atlanta campaign rally Sunday. Ossoff suggested that President Donald Trump has been neglecting his duties, saying, "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."
Though the comment earned immediate cheers from the crowd, conservatives criticized it as sexist and defended the 35-year-old aide as simply doing her job. Ossoff sought to clarify his remarks Monday, saying, "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."
In an interview with Fox News Digital, Collins criticized Ossoff’s remarks. "It's sexist, misogynist. This guy has a problem, the way he has treated women, and it's all coming out in the open now."
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Collins said Ossoff’s remarks about Harp reinforced his concerns about how the senator views women. "with what he said about Natalie is just one more nail in the coffin on how this guy actually feels about women," said Collins. "When he will say that about someone who is out there doing a fantastic job and to suggest those types of things. Yeah, he owes not only her an apology, but the American people an apology."
Ossoff led the race in a July AARP poll, which showed him ahead by nine percentage points. Speaking with Fox News Digital, however, Collins emphasized that the polls "have been tightening" as remarks such as this have shown his "true colors."
"There is a clear problem with him and females, and he needs to explain that. He needs to tell us why he is attacking a young lady like Natalie Harp personally like that," he said. "I mean, what he is a trust-fund kid who's never had a job, who's out there denigrating women, and the vulgarity that he is insinuating and talking about- this young lady, Natalie Harp, who has overcome so many odds. It's just unbecoming."
Harp rose to prominence in 2019 after crediting Trump’s Right to Try Act with helping her access experimental treatment for a rare bone cancer. She later joined Trump’s 2020 campaign and became a special assistant to the president.
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She has earned the nickname the "human printer" in Trump's orbit, providing the president with printouts of news articles, emails, social media posts and other material.
Collins defended Harp as someone who overcame the odds and "does a great job," adding that "there's a pattern here with this guy and it's out of control."
"You can take that further. The fact that he wants to allow men to participate in girls' sports, the fact that he doesn't mind if they use women's restrooms, this guy's got a problem," he said, adding, "He can't even define a woman."
Collins also said Democrats "are nothing but hypocrites when it comes to these types of issues."
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"For him to stand up there and denigrate her and to talk about her, this is nothing but him trying to make sure that he gets his social media-based platform raised and make sure he kind of tries to gin up the public out there."
Fox News Digital reached out to Ossoff’s campaign for comment.
