The former Australian citizen who might be America’s next president
The US is looking increasingly likely to choose a former Australian citizen as its next president.
Georgia Senator Jon Ossoff has rocketed to the top of the list of favourites as the Democratic nominee for the 2028 election.
Senator Jon Ossoff is considered a likely contender for the presidency. AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite
Voters are impressed by the senator’s soaring rhetoric and serious and direct behaviour in Washington.
And unlike so many other potential candidates in the Democratic party, he has managed to not alienate centrists or leftists within the party.
But Ossoff has a history that is not apparent in his presentation or his accent.
Ossoff would be the first president in history to grow up eating Vegemite and to call his mother “Mum”.
The senator’s mother was born and raised in Sydney, before moving over to the US as a 23-year-old.
Speaking to a TMZ reporter earlier this week, Ossoff revealed his grandmother was from Brisbane and his grandfather was from Footscray in Melbourne.
He was asked what Americans could take from Australians.
“Vegemite is a little bit of an acquired taste, but there is a laid-back culture in Australia,” he said.
“We get a little bit wound-up sometimes over here.”
George Senator Jon Ossoff with his Australian-born mother Heather Fenton. Jon Ossoff
Ossoff himself used to have Australian citizenship, but allowed it to lapse.
At just 39, Ossoff would be the youngest president in history if he is elected.
Come inauguration day in 2029, he would be two years younger than John F Kennedy was in 1961.
After the two oldest presidents in history back-to-back, the electorate may well be in the mood for a younger candidate.
The likeliest Republican candidate, JD Vance, 41, is also unusually young for a vice president.
Ossoff was elected to the Senate in 2020, the first Democrat in a generation to win the seat.
And he is on track to be re-elected in the midterm elections this November.
A strong performance in a key swing state makes Ossoff an appealing candidate on paper.
Jon Ossoff is considered a potential candidate for president in 2028. AAP
But Ossoff’s advantage lies in his speechmaking abilities.
His campaign events are regularly clipped up into short videos that are tailor-made for YouTube, TikTok and Instagram.
His campaign has been focused on addressing corruption in Washington, especially in the White House.
That message is resonating across partisan lines.
His success has drawn the mockery of Donald Trump himself.
“Georgia is a state that believes in common sense, and yet your terrible senator Jon Ossoff is terrible,” Trump said at a Georgia event.
“Jon Ossoff and the Democrat communists want to let the Marxists into power, bankrupt your families and leave you totally independent with wide open borders. But we will not let that happen to our country.”
If elected to the White House, Ossoff would not be the first president with strong Australian ties.
Well before he was elected president, Herbert Hoover lived in the tiny Western Australian town of Coolgardie, where he managed a series of gold mines.
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