Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-OH) sharply criticized the media over the weekend when asked about President Donald Trump's "weird relationship" with senior aide Natalie Harp, accusing the press of being "super misogynistic" and arguing that "personal stuff" should be kept out of politics.

As the Daily Beast reports, Moreno spoke to TMZ at Trump's Freedom 250 Grand Prix on Sunday. He declined to address the letters Harp, 35, sent her boss, 80 — including one in which she wrote that the president is "all that matters to her" — and instead accused the press and critics of the relationship of misogyny. Those notes were first made public by The Guardian in July and later featured in journalist Michael Wolff's book on Trump, "All or Nothing."

"That's super misogynistic," Moreno declared. "I mean, the reality is she's a very talented person. She's very smart at what she does. She helps the president make sure he's communicating. And the fact that if it was a guy, nobody would say that."

According to the Daily Beast, Moreno said rumors are arising only because the $150,000-a-year special assistant and executive assistant to the president is "a woman" and "obviously … pretty."

"The reality is she's very talented, she's very, very smart," Moreno continued. "I happen to know her very well. It's also obviously a very kind person. She went through bone cancer in her twenties." He added, "I mean, look at the other day, I've always said, let's just keep personal issues out."

Harp's biography has long been intertwined with Trump's political rise. After surviving bone cancer, she spoke at the 2020 Republican National Convention, where she credited the then-president's Right to Try law with helping save her life, and she later hosted a program on the pro-Trump channel One America News. She joined Trump's staff after he left office and became one of his most constant aides, reportedly carrying a portable screen that streams his speeches and television appearances so the president can follow his own coverage — the role Moreno described as helping Trump "communicate."

When asked specifically about the fawning letters Harp sent to the president, Moreno claimed, "I didn't read it, to be honest with you. I don't know if it's real or not real. But again, look, when you have a scenario where you work with somebody like that, you do develop a personal bond with somebody, but it doesn't mean it's anything other than a personal bond." He went on to assert that "adding" anything to their platonic attachment is unwarranted, saying again, "I'm not a big fan of all this personal stuff getting into politics. I think what the American people want is how you make your lives better."

As the Daily Beast notes, Moreno's exasperation at bringing "personal stuff" into politics comes as he faces a scandal of his own. Moreno has recently been in the spotlight over suggestions that he was too slow to respond to allegations that his daughter was abused by her ex-husband, Representative Max Miller (R-OH), a onetime Trump White House aide.

Moreno, a former Cleveland-area luxury car dealer now serving his first Senate term, won his seat under Trump's endorsement and has remained a devoted loyalist ever since, once calling Trump "the greatest president of his generation." Despite Moreno's suggestion that "personal stuff" and "misogyny" should be kept out of politics, Trump has a long and storied history of leveling misogynistic statements against women and personal attacks against his opponents in general.