‘Gutter Trash’: White House Leads Conservative Pile-On After Aaron Rupar’s ‘Blonde Flunkie’ Jab at Trump Press Wrangler

(Screengrab via CSPAN/Aaron Rupar)

The White House and members of conservative news outlets rallied in defense of a Trump administration staffer after independent journalist Aaron Rupar mocked her as a “blonde Trump flunkie” in a video showing her moving photographers away from the president.

The footage, filmed at Shannon Airport during President Donald Trump’s weekend visit to Ireland, showed White House press assistant Ellie Acra directing photographers away from Trump and members of his entourage on the runway. The footage was shared by Rupar, who clips political speeches while running his Public Notice Substack account.

“Another blonde Trump flunkie starts literally shoving photographers away from Trump,” Rupar wrote while sharing the clip on X of Acra breaking into the shot on CSPAN.

The comment, however, quickly drew the ire of the White House, including communications director Abigail Jackson and presidential aide Pat Adams:

The White House’s Rapid Response 47 account also hit back, calling Rupar “gutter trash (in his 40s)” and a “sick freak” who was “hiding behind his keyboard”:

The White House response was echoed by journalists familiar with the job Acra was performing, including Fox News Digital reporter Cameron Arcand, who defended the handler’s role as “critical” in “chaotic” press interactions and Rupar’s post as “demeaning and ignorant.”

Daily Wire reporter Mary Margaret Olohan called Rupar’s post “ignorant” and “misogynistic”:

Others in conservative media, including MAGA pundits, similarly piled on:

Former Obama aide Stefanie Feldman, a Democratic policy advisor, warned that tweets like Rupar’s “hurts the cause”:

The confrontation marked the second consecutive day the White House’s Rapid Response account had tweeted about Rupar. It previously branded him a “sick, deluded freak” after he posted about Trump aide Natalie Harp’s presence on the Ireland trip.

Rupar clapped back to accuse the account of encouraging harassment and highlighted its repeated references to his age.

Acra, a former reporter who now works in the White House travel operation as a press assistant, regularly accompanies Trump on presidential trips.

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