Sen. Jon Ossoff escalates war of words with Donald Trump, calls president a ‘draft-dodging crook’ who ‘plunged our nation recklessly into war’
Sen. Jon Ossoff escalated his criticism of President Donald Trump during a recent campaign appearance in Georgia, calling him a “draft-dodging crook president” while defending fellow Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly.
Jon Ossoff goes to war with Donald Trump
“I don’t think anything illustrates the times more aptly than that the draft-dodging crook president — who has plunged our nation recklessly into a war he knows not how to end or to win — tried to imprison this man, who embodies American heroism,” Ossoff said while appearing alongside Kelly and Kelly’s wife, former Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords.
Kelly, a former Navy captain, was among six Democratic lawmakers targeted by Trump in 2025 after they released a social media video telling military personnel they were not required to carry out illegal commands.
Trump responded by calling for their arrests and accusing them of “seditious behavior, punishable by death.”
Jon Ossoff’s political career
Ossoff is running for reelection to his Georgia Senate seat and has also been widely speculated about as a possible 2028 presidential contender. His increasingly sharp attacks on Trump have attracted viral attention on social media.
During a recent campaign appearance in Atlanta, Ossoff also blasted Trump over his handling of the U.S.-Israel war on Iran.
“While the sailors on the [USS Abraham] Lincoln fight his war, while he fruitlessly drains our munitions and oil reserves, the president sleeps through his meetings,” Ossoff said. “He golfs and trades stocks. See, 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 amir of Qatar.”
Ossoff appeared to be referring to Trump’s executive assistant Natalie Harp.
Trump fired back on Monday, August 17, by calling Ossoff “Pee-wee Herman” — while White House communications director Steven Cheung labeled the senator “a radical, extremist Dumocrat” on social media — as their increasingly personal public feud continued to intensify further.