Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.) on Tuesday said that his Republican counterparts in Congress who kiss up to President Donald Trump in public often express a very different sentiment behind closed doors.

Ossoff was asked about a new report that Trump will use during his Thursday night primetime address to the nation. Trump reportedly plans to push conspiracy theories about the 2020 election and to specifically declare that both Ossoff and Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) were “illegitimate” as a result.

“What do you say to your Republican colleagues who may agree with the president on this?” one reporter asked.

“I don’t know of Republican colleagues who agree with the president on this,” he said. “Privately, most elected Republicans in this building think the president has lost it and is dooming them to dismal losses this fall.”

Ossoff expanded on that during an interview with MS NOW’s Jen Psaki.

“It’s not even new that in private conversations a huge number of my Republican colleagues have contempt for the president,” he said. “They view him as somebody who’s adverse to their own interests. They know that he’s torpedoing GOP chances in these midterm elections.”

But having contempt privately doesn’t mean they will act out publicly.

“I don’t think they’re gonna do anything about it,” Ossoff said. “We should not hold out hope for a sudden outbreak of courage and integrity among elected Republicans in Washington. He still has the GOP in his grip.”

Ossoff’s claim has bipartisan backing. In December, former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) said that “it would shock people” to hear what Republicans in Congress say behind Trump’s back. She told “60 Minutes” that elected Republicans were “making fun of him, making fun of how he talks” behind the scenes, only to start “kissing his ass” when he won the GOP primary in 2024.

Marjorie Taylor Greene speaks alongside Donald Trump during a 2024 campaign event in Rome, Georgia.

Photo by Elijah Nouvelage / AFP

Greene was a longtime Trump ally and key member of his inner circle, but he turned on her when she publicly called for the release of files related to late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, who was once close friends with the president.

Trump attacked her on social media, and she eventually quit Congress.

Greene said that’s why other Republicans won’t speak out.

“I think they’re terrified to step out of line and get a nasty Truth Social post on them,” Greene said.