Jon Ossoff calls out 'Mar-a-Lago mafia' amid presidential bid rumors

Source: The Guardian

Sat 18 Apr 2026 18.13 EDT
Last modified on Sat 18 Apr 2026 18.14 EDT


At a campaign rally in Augusta, Georgia, on Saturday, the Democratic senator Jon Ossoff mocked Donald Trump’s rosy predictions on Iran and tore into what he called the unprecedented corruption of the president’s family. While Ossoff is running for re-election in November, he trained most of his fire on the president, and the vice-president, amid mounting speculation that the Democrat could launch a bid for his party’s nomination for the presidency in 2028.

The senator began his remarks by making fun of the paltry turnout for an event headlined by JD Vance on Tuesday: “I don’t know if you saw, but JD Vance was in Georgia this week. Don’t worry – no one showed up.” He then argued that Trump’s decision to attack Iran would be paid for by young Americans deployed to the Middle East and cuts to services for their families back home.

“Did you hear what this man said two weeks ago?” the senator asked supporters, referring to Trump. “Quote: ‘It’s not possible,’ the president said, ‘for us to take care of daycare, Medicaid or Medicare.’ He said: ‘We can only afford to fund war.’” “Because draft-dodging Donald loves sending other people’s children to war,” Ossoff said.

The senator noted that the $200bn the White House requested to pay for the war on Iran would be enough to “fund a decade, ten full year years of nationwide, universal pre-kindergarten”. “Instead? A war no one voted for and no one can explain,” Ossoff said. “And the daily, the hourly lying to the American public about why we’re at war, whether we’ve won, what’s been agreed to, not to mention the insane genocidal threats.”

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/apr/18/jon-ossoff-fiery-speech-presidential-rumors