Trump, an alleged mistress, and Ossoff’s cheap shot: Feminism with an asterisk

Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA) stood in Atlanta this weekend and did something calculated. He didn’t accuse President Donald Trump of an affair. He didn’t have to. He said the president would rather “build his ballroom and travel with Natalie” than do his job, let the room fill in the rest, and walked off. Within hours, “Natalie” was trending, and reporters were asking whether the line would trigger fresh coverage of a woman who has never held office, never asked for a headline, and has no vote on anything Ossoff claims to care about.

Watch what happens next. It won’t be a debate about whether a sitting senator should be insinuating things about a private staffer. It will be a debate about the staffer.