White House intensifies attacks on opponents and media as Trump seeks new mouthpiece

Senator Jon Ossoff, who is up for re-election, came up with arguably the standout line of the midterm elections so far

Jon Ossoff really struck a nerve. That much is clear.

The US senator for Georgia, running for re-election in November, came up with arguably the standout line of the midterm elections campaign so far when discussing Donald Trump at a rally on Sunday.

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

Not only did the remark enter into national consciousness the existence of ‘Natalie’ – Natalie Harp, the 35-year-old aide to Trump who rarely leaves the president’s side – Ossoff’s riff also succeeded in upsetting Steven Cheung, Trump’s director of communications.

“Jon Jackoff”, Cheung wrote on X on Monday, misspelling, perhaps deliberately, the name ‘Ossoff’, “has to be the biggest cuck loser in politics. 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. It’s because he’s a radical, extremist Dumocrat.”

Even for someone in Trump’s orbit, where outbursts against political opponents are commonplace, this plumbed new lows. What could possibly have triggered Trump’s stoutly built, middle-aged communications guru into attacking Ossoff, the handsome, athletic, 39-year-old senator?

It’s hard to be sure. But, apropos of nothing, this essay by Dana Schwartz, from 2016, examined why rightwing men are obsessed with calling people “cucks”:

“‘Cuck’ is a concept borne [sic] out of insecurity: a fear that one is inadequate, sexually or otherwise, and that inadequacy will lead to the loss of the things that are important to him,” Schwartz wrote.

In any case, Trump wasn’t far behind Cheung, calling Ossoff a “Pee-wee Herman lookalike” – a reference to a TV and film character whose popularity peaked 40 years ago. (Trump has also called Ossoff “Pinky Herman” , which is neither a character nor a thing.)

The anonymous White House Rapid Response X account joined in too, branding a CNN reporter who had asked Trump about Ossoff a “disgraceful, humiliating embarrassment to her alleged profession”, and later posting :

“Someday, your children will come across your disgusting and inhumane question. They will be sickened and embarrassed to have a parent be so callous and vindictive. It’s quite troubling.”

It’s hard to really be shocked by any of this any more, with daily attacks on the media from the president and his most senior aides, but an official White House account, with 2.2 million followers, invoking a reporter’s children prompted widespread criticism.

In truth the rhetoric from Trump and his acolytes, always bellicose, has been getting worse for a while – and people who dare to publicly question Trump’s narrative that he is a successful, popular president, seem to particularly trigger those on the right.

Take James Talarico, the Democratic candidate for US Senate in Texas, who is running neck and neck against Ken Paxton, whom Trump picked for the Republican side.

Talarico’s popularity in a traditionally red state has seen Republicans come out swinging. Trump dubbed the Democrat “Talafreako” in July; earlier US senator Bernie Moreno had called Talarico, “a far left freak”, while a Texas congressman falsely claiming Talarico “daydreams about trans kids”. (There was also Trump branding a reporter “piggy” after she asked him a question onboard Air Force One.)

Perhaps the fury is prompted whenever something, or someone, succeeds in puncturing the alternate reality that Republicans have created for themselves: a reality where the GOP is not predicted to suffer heavy losses in November’s midterms, and one where Trump is a spry, capable president.

When someone points out that Trump is an 80-year-old, easily distracted man who is overseeing an ill-defined, meandering war in Iran, while doing little as prices soar at home, it appears to bring out the particularly vulgar insults. Ossoff did all this on Sunday – and sparked fresh speculation about the president’s relationship with a close aide.

With Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, stepping down, there is some jostling taking place in Trump’s circle to replace her, perhaps explaining the amped up language as each potential successor seeks to be more pugnacious than the last.

And given Democrats in Congress will be running on Trump’s unpopularity this November, there’ll be plenty of opportunity for bellicose responses from the White House. We should brace ourselves for plenty more of this sort of thing.