Progressive Democrat Abdul El-Sayed became the second Senate candidate to invoke the controversy surrounding President Donald Trump’s relationship with embattled White House aide Natalie Harp — telling her on social media Saturday that her 80-year-old boss “needs his rest.”
The combined shots at Trump and his 35-year-old assistant came as a new report said Harp posted in support of Trump more than 150 times on January 6, 2021, when MAGA loyalists stormed the U.S. Capitol in a bid to keep Congress from certifying his election loss to Joe Biden.
El-Sayed, the Democratic Senate candidate from Michigan, mocked the aging president's stamina after Trump on Friday accused him of having “recently campaigned with a communist fanatic who says that America deserved 9/11,” an apparent reference to progressive influencer Hasan Piker.
“Natalie, I think he's had a little too much iPad for the week. He needs his rest,” El-Sayed quipped.
It follows a dig from Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff of Georgia, whose comments thrust Harp, a former far-right cable TV host and 2024 Trump campaign staffer, into the spotlight and sparked heated reactions from the White House.
He alluded to Harp’s relationship with the president during an August 16 re-election campaign rally, and accused Trump of not wanting to “do the job” of president. “He wants to build his ballroom and travel with Natalie,” Ossoff said.
Also Saturday, CNN said it had uncovered scores of posts Harp made on Twitter, now known as X, before her account was apparently suspended.
They included repeated exhortations made January 6 to "FIGHT FOR TRUMP!" according to a screenshot CNN included in its report.
Harp's since-deleted posts also reportedly told Trump, “We love you” and included an altered version of Psalm 43:1 that asked God to vindicate Trump and rescue him “from those who are deceitful and wicked.”
The White House didn't immediately respond to a Saturday afternoon inquiry from The Independent.
Ossoff’s crack came after CNN revealed that Harp was among three White House aides who flew with Trump from Turkey to the U.K. on a military jet after he was snuck off Air Force One in response to an Iranian assassination threat.
Unknowing journalists and other members of Trump's administration, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, made the trip on the presidential decoy plane.
Democratic strategists were divided over Ossoff's remark, with Anthony Coley, a former Department of Justice spokesperson, telling The Hill, “Timing matters enormously in politics, and Ossoff caught this wave at exactly the right moment.”
Democratic strategist Joel Payne also credited Ossoff with successfully questioning the president's priorities, saying that “if you can make that point with a little bit of hot sauce on top of it, I think that makes for effective politics.”
But David Axelrod, chief strategist for President Barack Obama's winning 2008 and 2012 campaigns, said on social media that the two words Ossoff used to mention Harp “seemed gratuitous and unnecessary.”
“Probably thrilled some in the base, who figured it was just giving Trump a taste of his own nasty medicine. But they distracted and detracted from the power of the message,” Axelrod added.
Harp worked in the White House for more than a year without seeking a security clearance normally obtained by West Wing staffers, MS NOW reported Wednesday, citing two unidentified people familiar with the matter.
It's unclear why Harp didn't apply for the clearance, but she's since filled out the necessary forms at Trump's request after the White House counsel's office and national security officials raised concerns, MS NOW said.
