The White House is scrambling yet again over a viral video of one of President Donald Trump‘s aides.
A family moment quickly turned into what looked like a virtual squabble between one of Trump’s loyal staffers and some of his harshest critics.
The 80-year-old Republican’s encounter on the airport tarmac set off a war of words online.
White House Press Assistant Ellie Acra came under the spotlight on Sunday, Sept. 13, when independent journalist Aaron Ruper slammed her actions in Ireland.
Trump’s two eldest sons, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, greeted the president on the Shannon International Airport tarmac alongside their young children.
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As photographers tried to snap the Trump family meet-up, Acra blocked the camera and shouted at members of the press corps. She loudly thanked them before ordering them away from the scene.
Rupar shared a clip of the awkward interaction between the White House aide and the media on his X page, which has more than one million followers.
“Another blonde Trump flunkie starts literally shoving photographers away from Trump,” Rupar captioned his video, likely alluding to Trump’s controversial blonde assistant, Natalie Harp.
Two days later, Acra finally hit back. She leaned into sarcasm to defend her actions, tweeting: “BREAKING: I am a press wrangler actually wrangling!”
Acra followed the blueprint laid out by the Rapid Response account. While she parroted parts of the Trump administration’s initial retort, her clapback was not as personal.
“This is a press wrangler doing her job — and doing it well,” read the Rapid Response statement. What came next was a direct shot at Rupar.
The tweet resumed, “Aaron, meanwhile, is gutter trash (in his 40s) who spends his days hiding behind his keyboard and making disturbing comments about women doing their jobs. Truly a sick freak!”
Despite federal government representatives blatantly targeting him, Rupar didn’t back down from going back and forth with the administration.
The political media junkie essentially accused the Trump team of inciting harassment after delivering a low blow to the POTUS.
“The White House’s taxpayer-funded incitement account is attacking me and oddly mentioning I’m in my 40s (which I know makes me way too old for the president),” he tweeted.
The Public Notice newsletter publisher continued, “When they do this, it results in a flood of harassing and threatening messages, which of course is the point.”
Unsurprisingly, the internet was divided over whether Acra actually fit the phrase.
Trump’s MAGA supporters backed her, while critics condemned the attacks and accused government officials of harassing him.
A separate tweet read, “Keep wranglin’, baby!” Another said, So her response is, ‘Hey, I am what you think I am.’”
Suspecting Acra was telling on herself, critics left messages like, “If you lie down with dogs, blondie” and “a hit dog will holler.”
This prompted many to call her a “pretty patriot” and question her qualifications.
“Rupar pegged it right. Acra’s just another one of Trump’s eye-candy fembots he likes to keep around,” one person noted.
Another said, Trump has attacked female reporters on a consistent basis – ‘very dumb,’ ‘loud,’ ‘piggy ’- and nary a peep nor word from Republican congressmen or right-wing media- now a comment about one of his handlers – they have a lot to say; they can’t shut up.”
The clash over Rupar’s criticism of the administration’s handling of the media and Acra’s insistence that she was simply doing her job as a press wrangler turned into a fiery exchange.
After the bickering on X, Rupar continued to sternly criticize the president, the White House staff, and the Cabinet. He spent Wednesday morning, Sept. 16, putting Energy Secretary Chris Wright on blast.
