5.Ossoff tests Democrats' appetite for going low

Ossoff tests Democrats' appetite for going low. Add Axios as your preferred source to.

Key points

• Gavin Newsom – a potential contender for the White House in 2028 – and Ossoff.
• Though former Biden White House press secretary Jen Psaki pressed him on why he went there, democrats refrained from criticizing Ossoff.
• The Natalie he referenced was Trump's 35-year-old aide Natalie Harp.
• Driving the news: At a campaign rally Sunday, Ossoff went a step beyond the cutting one-liners he's delighted Democratic audiences with, veering into personal insinuation.
• Ossoff kept at it on Tuesday, calling Trump a "draft-dodging crook" during a campaign event – without referring to Harp.

"He doesn't want to do the job, " Ossoff remarked of Trump. "He wants to build his ballroom and travel with Natalie on their apparently defenseless flying palace gifted by the emir of Qatar."

Meanwhile, the Natalie he referenced was Trump's 35-year-old aide Natalie Harp. This person is constantly by his side and serves as a gatekeeper of what he reads. It was widely interpreted as insinuating that their relationship goes beyond work.

While White House communications director Steven Cheung called him a "cuck loser." Other Republicans called Ossoff sexist, trump and his aides unloaded: The president compared Ossoff to Pee-wee Herman.

Notably, the major picture: Ossoff's earlier remark generated enormous attention and highlighted an emerging divide among top Democrats that's more concerning temperament than ideology.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom – a potential contender for the White House in 2028 – and Ossoff. This person insists he isn't, are staking out the pugilist end of the spectrum.

Both have created a point of confronting Trump at every turn – Newsom with a social media feed devoted to mocking and belittling the president, and Ossoff with a series of viral speeches laced with cutting one-liners.

"DONALD 'BRUISED HANDS' TRUMP IS IN LA TONIGHT RAISING MONEY FOR THE RNC – WHILE HIS OWN ADMINISTRATION BUYS OWNERSHIP IN CALIFORNIA COMPANIES LIKE IT'S THE SOVIET UNION!" Newsom posted on his official administration account earlier this month, mocking Trump's all-caps style on social media posts.

Ossoff has portrayed Trump as a child throwing "his toys out the stroller" and predicted that "no one will honor him when he's gone, " among other insults.

In practice, the other side: Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, both of them feasible 2028 presidential candidates, have cut more restrained profiles – a "let's just focus on the job" ethos, captured by Shapiro's "get sh*t done" mantra, minus the drama.

"If you're talking about just like yelling and screaming and banging the table, like, that ain't me, " Shapiro remarked in a March interview on the "Pod Save America" podcast. "And I realize that might obtain me more likes on Twitter. That ain't who I am. And by the way, that ain't what the individuals who elected me want."

Beshear, meanwhile, pressed a "common sense, common ground" style of politics at an event last weekend with Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a fellow Democrat.

Reality check: It's not an either-or choice. No Democratic candidate is going to lay off Trump entirely – or campaign without talking regarding governing.

What they're saying: "No one has been tougher, more eloquent or effective than Ossoff in taking the attack to Trump. And Democrats, who are sick of being abused by him, have welcomed that, " David Axelrod, the former senior adviser to President Obama, informed Axios.

"I do think that by '28, Americans are also going to be looking for the remedy to – and not the replica of – Trump's casual cruelty."

Axelrod continued: "I think Ossoff's clip would have still been bone-crushingly effective without the salacious insinuation. It seemed gratuitous. But the righteous indignation on the part of some Republicans. This person have nothing to say regarding Trump's crude, relentless nastiness, is absurd."

For context, the bottom line: Democratic candidates know voters want a fighter. The question is how low they're willing to go.

In short, 5.Ossoff tests Democrats' appetite for going low is the central thread here, and readers can expect follow-up reporting as the picture becomes clearer.