“Morning Joe” host Joe Scarborough has criticized the White House's reaction to Senator Jon Ossoff’s remarks about President Donald Trump, calling it a "bizarre overreaction" that is backfiring by drawing significant media attention to the Georgia Democrat.
Scarborough stated on Tuesday that the White House's response has given Ossoff "three days of coverage" across mainstream and social media. "It just doesn’t really make any sense," he added.
The controversy began after Ossoff criticized Trump's handling of several issues during a Sunday speech, including the war in Iran and events aboard the USS Lincoln. What particularly drew the White House's ire was an attack on Trump's relationship with his aide Natalie Harp.
Ossoff reportedly stated that Trump "doesn’t want to do the job” of president and instead "wants to build his ballroom and travel with Natalie on their apparently defenseless flying palace gifted by the emir of Qatar."
In response, White House spokesperson Davis R. Ingle labeled Ossoff "a cringeworthy, feminine theatre kid cosplaying as Barack Obama." Communications director Steven Cheung referred to the senator as "Jon Jackoff."
The White House's Rapid Response account also reportedly targeted CNN White House correspondent Kristen Holmes after she questioned Trump about Ossoff's comments during a press briefing.
Scarborough suggested that this approach by the Trump team is counterproductive. "If they didn’t like Jon Ossoff’s speech, this is the Trump team being trumped," he said. Co-host Willie Geist agreed, stating that the White House is "actually giving John Ossoff exactly what he wants — and that is more publicity."
Geist further commented that the White House's "testosterone-based attacks have become very bizarre," indicating that Ossoff has captured the attention of both the president and his administration.