President Donald Trump blew up at a reporter Friday who questioned his vile defense of Vivek Ramaswamy’s ugly attack ad featuring Ohio Democratic gubernatorial candidate Amy Acton’s estranged mother.
Speaking to reporters, Trump struggled to defend the campaign ad featuring Donna Arthur, who lost custody of Acton after years of documented issues, including homelessness and sexual abuse by her stepfather.
“A mother is saying, don’t put my daughter there because she’s a terrible person, and she’s a liar,” Trump said. “Why shouldn’t somebody use that?”
“But do the sexual abuse allegations mean nothing to you, sir?” the reporter asked. “But do the sexual abuse allegations make no difference?
“Wait, wait, wait, slow down. Who are you with? Who are you with?” Trump said.
“I’m with NBC, sir,” the reporter replied.
“One of the worst networks you have,” Trump sneered, but the reporter continued to press him.
“Quiet,” the president snapped. “Isn’t she a fresh person? You’re a horrible little reporter, aren’t you? If my mother said bad things about me, you think the Democrats would put it up? I think so. But my mother thought I was wonderful!”
Of course, the issue isn’t that the advertisement featured Acton’s mother—it’s that it featured a woman who was estranged from her daughter because of alleged sexual abuse by Acton’s stepfather. In 1978, Arthur’s husband Cledith “Bud” Arthur was charged and indicted for rape. Court documents indicate he’d engaged in sexual contact with Acton when she was less than 13 years old. After her stepfather pleaded not guilty, he skipped bail, and Arthur left town with him, Acton said in a 2019 interview.
This wouldn’t be the first time Trump has downplayed, or outright ignored, serious allegations of sexual abuse. The president has repeatedly dismissed the government’s own findings about his old friend Jeffrey Epstein, an alleged sex trafficker, as a “hoax.” The Department of Justice initially withheld documents relating to three interviews with a woman who accused Trump of sexually assaulting her as a child. Additionally, Trump has railed against a court that found him liable for sexually abusing author E. Jean Carroll. Meanwhile, dozens more women have accused the president of sexual assault.