You had to be watching CNN Tuesday evening to believe it. There was host Erin Burnett earnestly questioning an addled and disheveled 38-year-old man named Preston Harp, encouraging him to trash his little sister Natalie and her boss, President Donald Trump.
Burnett’s probing questions: ‘What do you think drew her to him?’ … ‘Did you ever think you’d see something like this?’ She thus opened the door for Preston Harp to denounce his 35-year-old sister, who has emerged as one of Donald Trump’s closest and most omnipresent aides. At least brother Harp didn’t accuse sis of having a physical relationship with the president.
This entire sleazy episode was sparked by Georgia Senator Jon Ossoff, the very young and very ambitious charlatan who is considered presidential timber by some Democrats. Ossoff was talking to an adoring crowd in Atlanta when he said this about the president: ‘He wants to build his ballroom and travel with Natalie.’ Senator Ossoff was making an obvious implication, tacitly accusing the president of having an inappropriate relationship. What followed illustrates how things work in the media-verse. Ossoff’s scripted remark about Natalie gave CNN permission to search out her brother and put him on the air. That, in turn, opened the floodgates for other Trump-hating outlets to join the party and pile on. Some examples:
NBC News: ‘Who is Natalie Harp?
Washington Post: ‘What to know about Natalie Harp.’
CBS News: ‘Loyal assistant suddenly in the spotlight.’
Huffpost: ‘Brother … says sister has very unhealthy bond with Trump.’
Daily Beast: ‘Trump, 80, accused of very unhealthy relationship with blonde aide.’
The young woman who is the target of innuendo and slander has an interesting back story. Natalie Harp was raised in a very conservative Christian family and never wavered in her faith, graduating from Liberty University and then joining the conservative OAN TV network. Along the way, she recovered from bone cancer and credited Trump’s ‘Right to Try Act’ for allowing experimental treatments that she believes saved her life. So, yes, Ms. Harp is exceptionally grateful and tremendously loyal to the man she considers her literal savior.
Meanwhile, Natalie’s flaky brother Preston took a different route and sounds like a charter member of the Democratic Socialists of America. During his semi-coherent appearance on CNN, he begged his sister to change her ways, reminding her that ‘no country is better than any other country.’ He added the obligatory apology for his nation: ‘The history of the United States is unfortunate.’
Preston Harp will soon fade back into the woodwork, his sister Natalie will continue to loyally do her job, while CNN and Erin Burnett have further marred their network’s soiled reputation. When Ted Turner founded CNN in 1980, he made this vow: ‘We will cover the end of the world, live, and that will be our last event.’ Maybe so, but in some ways CNN itself has already been declared dead. On Tuesday night Erin Burnett and her bosses shoveled more dirt on the grave.
