US senator Jon Ossoff condemns Trump as ‘draft-dodging, crook president’

Democratic senator intensifies White House feud after remarks about ‘Natalie’ drew ire of president and allies

The Democratic senator Jon Ossoff called Donald Trump a “draft-dodging, crook president” while defending the senator Mark Kelly as a hero during a Tuesday campaign appearance in Georgia, escalating his public feud with the US president.

“I don’t think anything illustrates the times more aptly than that the draft-dodging, crook president, who has plunged our nation recklessly into a war he knows not how to end or to win, tried to imprison this man, who embodies American heroism,” Ossoff said while appearing alongside Kelly and his wife, the former Arizona congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords.

Kelly, a former navy captain, and five other Democratic lawmakers were attacked by Trump last year after they released a social media video saying troops are not required to carry out illegal commands.

Trump called for the lawmakers’ arrests, accusing them of “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH!”

Ossoff, who is currently running for re-election to his Senate seat in Georgia and is widely speculated to be eyeing a 2028 presidential run, has received viral attention on social media for his sharp criticism of Trump.

On Sunday, during a campaign appearance in Atlanta, Ossoff similarly attacked Trump’s handling of the US-Israel war on Iran.

“While the sailors on the Lincoln fight his war, while he fruitlessly drains our munitions and oil reserves, the president sleeps through his meetings,” Ossoff said . “He golfs and trades stocks. See, 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 amir of Qatar.”

Ossoff appears to have been referring to Natalie Harp, Trump’s executive assistant, who has drawn scrutiny for her closeness to the US president.

The White House quickly criticized Ossoff on Monday, with the president calling him “Pee-wee Herman” and the White House communications director, Steven Cheung, writing on social media that Ossoff is “a radical, extremist Dumocrat”.