MAGA struggles to explain away Trump's 'human binkie'

President Donald Trump's ongoing relationship with staffer Natalie Harp, who is close to the Republican that she reportedly leaves fawning notes and is described as his "diaper nurse," has now attracted the attention of a conservative publication, Forbes.

"She’s been a figure in Trump’s orbit for years, and was nicknamed the 'human printer' during Trump’s 2024 campaign because she carried a printer with her to print off news articles and social media posts that might interest Trump," wrote Forbes journalist Sara Dorn on Monday. "In recent weeks, Trump antagonizers have pushed unverified innuendo about Harp and Trump that appears to be based solely on the optics of the much-younger Harp being spotted regularly with the president."

They added a recent quote by one of Trump's opponents in the Senate.

"Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., said of Trump on Saturday 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,'" Dorn quoted Ossoff. Forbes went on to cite the right-wing criticism of Ossoff's jab. White House spokesperson Steven Cheung, for example, slammed Ossoff on X by saying that of “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.”

Similarly CNN pundit Scott Jennings posted on X that “this is quite a message for the Democratic Party to send to young women working in politics. Party of women? Pretty ugly stuff.”

Beyond Forbes' purview, many Trumpers have tried to slam Democrats who criticize Trump's relationship with Harp, with some being called out for hypocrisy. Bryan Lanza, who served as Communications Director for President Donald J. Trump's Transition Team, told CNN’s Kasie Hunt on Monday that “he didn't attack a young woman for doing her job. That young woman, Natalie — she has parents who are probably appalled by Ossoff's behavior today, and by what he implied. So I think, you know, where we've seen the Democratic Party go is a race to the gutter.”

Lanza continued, “The Republican Party has sort of been there already — we've floated in that space. But now the Democratic Party, and like Ossoff, who's the leading potential frontrunner for the Democratic Party — people are cheering the fact that he maligned somebody who has sacrificed a significant amount of their livelihood to serve this country.”

Elliot Williams, a former federal prosecutor, described Lanza’s outrage as hypocritical.

“I love you, man, I appreciate that,” the laughing Williams said. “I just — it's a little rich, after nearly a decade of Donald Trump, for anyone in the United States to start pointing a finger at someone for rhetoric or language around, frankly, sex.”