Jon Ossoff, amid presidential chatter, hits Trump over elections

Sen. Jon Ossoff is going on offense against President Trump, emerging as one of the Democratic Party’s most aggressive critics on elections — an issue that hits close to home for the Georgia Democrat.

Ossoff won his seat in the Senate in a runoff election held on Jan. 5, 2021 — a day before the infamous Jan. 6 invasion of the Capitol, when Trump supporters forced the evacuation of lawmakers seeking to certify the results of the 2020 presidential contest.

Those supporters were egged on at the time by Trump, who insisted he won the 2020 contest and who Thursday in a national address reiterated his claims about election security.

Even before Trump delivered his primetime speech, Ossoff, increasingly seen as a potential presidential contender in 2028, was speaking out on the issue. 

On Wednesday, he drew headlines for a heated exchange with Jay Clayton, nominated by Trump to serve as director of national intelligence. During the confirmation hearing, Ossoff repeatedly asked Clayton, “Who won the 2020 election?” 

When Clayton refused to answer a number of times, Ossoff told him: “Isn’t it humiliating to be unable to answer this question, to have to indulge the president’s delusions?” 

Ahead of Trump’s address on Thursday, Ossoff pushed back on any suggestion that Trump would claim his own victory in 2021 was somehow fraudulent, telling reporters, “the world’s most famous sore loser will deliver a primetime presidential sour-grapes address to pursue his six year-old........

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