The Trump White House and a chorus of conservative journalists came out swinging this weekend in defense of a young press aide after a liberal video clipper mocked her for doing her job during the president’s trip to Ireland.
The controversy began when independent journalist Aaron Rupar, who runs the Public Notice Substack and frequently shares clips of political events, posted footage from Shannon Airport showing White House press assistant Ellie Acra directing photographers away from President Trump and his entourage on the runway.
Rupar captioned the clip by mocking Acra as “another blonde Trump flunkie” who was “literally shoving photographers away from Trump.”
The remark did not sit well with the White House. Communications Director Abigail Jackson fired back, describing Acra as a hardworking staffer who coordinates closely with the press to provide more access than any other administration, and calling Rupar a pathetic critic whose job consists of attacking female staffers for attention from like-minded followers online.
Presidential aide Pat Adams also weighed in with a pointed response mocking the “flunkie” label, while the White House’s official Rapid Response 47 account escalated the confrontation further, branding Rupar “gutter trash” in his forties who spends his time hiding behind a keyboard making disturbing comments about women simply doing their jobs.
The pushback quickly spread beyond official White House channels. Fox News Digital reporter Cameron Arcand defended Acra’s role as critical to keeping chaotic press interactions on schedule, calling Rupar’s post demeaning and ignorant. Daily Wire reporter Mary Margaret Olohan similarly blasted the comment as ignorant and misogynistic.
Other conservative voices piled on as well, with commentators noting that wrangling the press is literally the job description for someone in Acra’s position, and that she appeared to be handling a genuinely difficult task involving a large group of reporters, photographers and camera crews working against a tight presidential schedule.
Even a former Obama administration aide and Democratic policy advisor, Stefanie Feldman, cautioned that posts like Rupar’s do more harm than good, suggesting that focusing on legitimate criticisms of the administration would be more productive than attacking a staffer acting within the normal bounds of her role.
This marked the second consecutive day the White House’s rapid-response account targeted Rupar. The account had previously called him a “sick, deluded freak” after he posted about another Trump aide’s presence on the same Ireland trip.
Rupar responded to the pile-on by accusing the White House account of encouraging harassment against him and pointing out its repeated fixation on his age.
Acra, a former reporter who now works in the White House’s travel operations as a press assistant, regularly accompanies the president on trips.
[READ MORE: Trump Plays DJ for Reporters on Air Force One Flight Home From Ireland]
