The Natalie Harp Affair Has Triggered the Republican/MAGA Base Like Nothing Else. Are We at All Surprised?
In a season where Republicans need to have a focused message cutting through the slime of Trump’s failures, the Natalie Harp Affair has both galvanized and distracted their perpetually confused and irritable base.
Harp’s presence and responsibilities started to become a topic of concern to Democrats and Republicans alike in August 2026, but the truth is that Democrats began sounding alarms about her well before that timeframe. She joined Trump’s team in 2022, having previously worked as a presenter on the far-right television channel One America News Network promoting false claims of fraud in the 2020 presidential election, supporting, and pushing various conspiracy theories related to attempts to overturn that election. Sometime in 2024, she became an aide for Trump which, much like his hand-picked cabinet, clearly requires no experience or higher education related to the position in order to be promoted. Harp has been called out by other aides who spoke to the New York Times as a “conduit,” an “instant enabler of his impulses,” with journalist Michael Wolff describing her as a “gatekeeper.” Her access to Trump allows other far-right figures and bigoted conspiracy theorists, such a Laura Loomer, to influence Trump.
When it was revealed that Trump had switched planes during a trip to Ankara, Turkey, after alleged reports from Israel of an Iranian assassination attempt being plotted, Harp was one of the few individuals who apparently made the cut of those to join Trump on another plane, leaving journalists with the White House Press Corps on the new Qatari-gifted Air Force One, acting as decoys for lack of a better term, potentially to be killed if the assassination threat turned out to be valid. Harp is ever present, and will not be denied access to Trump, even when he has not expressly requested it, as evidenced by reports of her getting into a screaming match with Secret Service in the lobby of Trump Tower over the lack of room for her in Trump’s SUV (she allegedly chose to stow herself in the far-back “trunk” area of the vehicle rather than be left behind…), and her being recorded sprinting across the grounds of Trump International Golf Links – Scotland to keep up with his gold cart. Maggie Haberman, co-author of the book Regime Change: Inside the Imperial Presidency of Donald Trump, has described Harp as acting as Trump’s “human binky, or comfort blanket.”
It should be noted here that Harp – despite having no previous administrative experience – pulls a government salary of $150,000 per year. That’s a pretty expensive goddamn binky being paid for by American taxpayers to leave notes around The White House such as, “You are all that matters to me,” “I never want to bring you anything but joy,” “I never want to let you down,” and “Thank you for being my Guardian and Protector in this life,” in his personal spaces for him to find.
“He doesn’t want to do his job. He wants to build his ballroom and travel with Natalie on their apparently defenseless flying place gifted by the Emir of Qatar.” – Jon Ossoff, August 2026
With a failed war with Iran causing inflation and gas prices to rise, a federal debt reaching a historic $40 trillion dollars, multiple loses in courts skewering various parts of his agenda across the land, and a presidential approval rating falling to a dismal 33%, Trump appeared to be missing the mark with even his once rabid voting base. At a campaign stop for his Senate re-election bid, Jon Ossoff gave a speech that was critical of Trump and his seeming disinterest in the plight of everyday Americans, highlighting Trump’s priorities:
“While the sailors on the U.S.S. 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 his job. He wants to build his ballroom and travel with Natalie on their apparently defenseless flying place gifted by the Emir of Qatar.”
That was all it took to spark the MAGA outrage machine…and Republicans pounced on it because they literally have nothing else to campaign on. White House Communications Director Steven Cheung – who looks like the Bond villain Oddjob, with the verbal skills to match – wrote in response on Twitter (no, I will never call it “X” …):
“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.”
Republican/MAGA big feelings over Ossoff’s words can be best summed up in conservative broadcaster and close Trump ally Scott Jennings’ heated reaction on Twitter:
“This is quite a message for the Democratic Party to send to young women working in politics. Party of women? Pretty ugly stuff.”
Pretty. Ugly. Stuff. Interesting reaction from someone who supports the party that loved to weaponize the terms “cancel culture,” “snowflake,” “triggered,” and even used the rallying cry of “Fuck your feelings!” whenever anyone complained about their lack of empathy or sympathy. But let’s do a deeper dive into MAGA’s/Republican’s carnival of hypocrisy by revisiting some of the comments Trump himself has levelled at woman throughout his campaigns and two administrations, shall we?
"Quiet. Quiet, Piggy." – to Bloomberg reporter Catherine Lucey on Air Force One when she attempted to ask him if there was anything incriminating in the Epstein Files
“I've known you for 10 years. I don't think I’ve ever seen a smile on your face. You know why you're not smiling? Because you know you're not telling the truth." - to CNN reporter Kaitlan Collins in the Oval Office
“It must be a pretty picture, you dropping to your knees.” – speaking to a female contestant on The Apprentice
“Yeah, she’s really something, and what a beauty, that one. If I weren’t happily married and, ya know, her father…” – speaking about his daughter, Ivanka Trump
“Can you imagine that the face of our next President? I mean, she’s a woman, and I’m not supposed to say bad things, but really, folks, come on. Are we serious?” – speaking about Republican political rival Carly Fiorina
The list could go on and on, but let’s end with a classic:
“I just start kissing them. It’s like a magnet. Just kiss. I don’t even wait. And when you’re a star, they let you do it, you can do anything. Grab them by the pussy, you can do anything.” – to “Access Hollywood” host Billy Bush
But sure, let’s be outraged over Jon Ossoff saying Trump would rather travel with Natalie than do his job.
Steven Cheung’s and Scott Jennings’ faux outrage is pathetic, made even more so by the fact that it is mirrored by other “conservative” talking heads. The truth is that their collective pearl clutching – over literally nothing – is a smokescreen. Republican hypocrisy knows absolutely no bounds, but the November midterms have them scrambling for something, anything, to rally their base as each day appears to indicate that Democrats have more than just a “good chance” of taking both the Senate and The House of Representatives. While still an uphill battle, Democrats are currently favored to win the majority in the House, and the fight for the Senate now shifting to being a toss-up where it had once been predicted Republicans would hold steady. The Republican strategy of redistricting is backfiring on them, with record numbers of Democrats showing up to vote in key states such as Wisconsin, Michigan, Georgia, and even Texas. Democratic primary voter turnout has been an enthusiastic rebuke to Republican efforts to disenfranchise minority groups, especially Black voters.
The Natalie Harp Affair has put a very unwelcome spotlight on Trump’s true focus: himself. He cares nothing about the American people, only about his own vanity and what anyone can or will do for him. Harp absolutely deserves all of the criticism she receives as she put herself in that position…and may be one of the key flashpoints for the losses Republicans are on the path to suffering come November.
I hope Trump’s “human binky” has plenty of lotions, powder, and adult diapers (as it has been rumored she carries in that large bag the totes everywhere with Trump). He is gonna need everything in that bag...