Sen. Bernie Moreno scrambled to defend Donald Trump’s “pretty” young aide, Natalie Harp, whose fawning behavior toward the president is freaking out her White House colleagues.
Moreno spoke to TMZ at Trump’s Freedom 250 Grand Prix on Sunday. He refused to touch on the downright bizarre letters Harp, 35, sent her boss, 80, including one where she said the president is “all that matters to her,” instead accusing the press and critics of the relationship of misogyny.
“That’s super misogynistic. I mean, the reality is she’s a very talented person. She’s very smart at what she does. She helps the president make sure he’s communicating. And the fact that if it was a guy, nobody would say that,” he added.
Moreno said that rumors are arising just because the $150,000-a-year special assistant and executive assistant to the president is “a woman” and “obviously…pretty.”
“When the reality is she’s very talented, she’s very, very smart. I happen to know her very well. It’s also obviously a very kind person. She went through bone cancer in her twenties,” Moreno said.
“I mean, look at the other day, I’ve always said, let’s just keep personal issues out,” he added.
Asked specifically about the fawning letters sent by Harp to the president, revealed in full by the Daily Beast, he said, “I didn’t read it, to be honest with you. I don’t know if it’s real or not real. But again, look, when you have a scenario where you work with somebody like that, you do develop a personal bond with somebody, but it doesn’t mean it’s anything other than a personal bond.”
He said “adding” anything to that platonic bond is unwarranted. “I’m not a big fan of all this personal stuff getting into politics. I think what the American people want is how you make your lives better,” he said.
It comes after Moreno’s personal life, or rather that of his daughter’s, made headline news after he demanded that his former son-in-law, Rep. Max Miller, a fellow Ohio Republican, quit Congress over allegations of marital abuse.
Harp also has the backing of the president’s second son. Eric Trump responded to a clip of Preston Harp’s appearance on CNN’s OutFront earlier this month, in which he described his sister’s bizarre trunk escapade as “sad” and indicative of her devotion to the president.
“What absolute trash,” Eric, 42, wrote on X. “Natalie is an incredible young woman — a cancer survivor, a genuinely good person, and arguably one of the hardest-working people in the White House.”
