Donald Trump Calls NBC Journalist a 'Horrible Little Reporter' Over Ohio Ad

President Donald Trump called an NBC News reporter "a horrible little reporter" on Friday as he spoke with reporters while leaving the White House for Florida. She had pressed him repeatedly on whether sexual abuse allegations made any difference to his support for Vivek Ramaswamy's latest attack ad in the Ohio governor's race.

The ad, a 60-second spot from Ramaswamy's campaign, features Donna Arthur, the estranged mother of Democratic nominee Amy Acton, calling her own daughter a liar. The allegations the reporter raised involve Acton's stepfather, who was charged with raping Acton beginning when she was 12, from December 1976 to April 1978, Cleveland 19 News reported. He failed to appear in court and became a fugitive. The reporter asked Trump whether those allegations meant anything to him. He did not answer that question.

Donald Trump Cuts Off NBC Reporter on Abuse Allegations

Trump began by defending the ad on its merits. "Well, a mother is saying, 'Don't put my daughter there because she's a terrible person and she's a liar.' Why shouldn't somebody use that?" he said.

As the reporter tried to ask about the allegations, Trump stopped her. "Wait, wait, wait, wait. Slow down," he said, then asked which outlet she worked for. When she answered NBC, he asked what the worst networks were and added: "You're a horrible little reporter, aren't you?" Later in the exchange he told her, "Quiet."

He went on to praise the mother in the ad as a "smart woman" and said he would welcome a spot like it. "If I had that ad, I should be so lucky to have an ad like that," Trump said. "Why wouldn't you listen to a mother that says that? Why? Why wouldn't you -- Miss NBC?"

When the reporter brought up the stepfather and the year 1978, Trump said he knew nothing about it. "I don't know anything about stepfathers. From many, many years ago," he said. "This has nothing to do with a stepfather or anything else."

He closed by calling the mother's remarks "something that's very much fair game."

A Pattern With Women Reporters

Friday's exchange echoed personal insults Trump aimed at other women covering him nearly a year ago. In November 2025, aboard Air Force One, he told Bloomberg reporter Catherine Lucey, "Quiet, piggy," when she asked about the Jeffrey Epstein files, NBC News reported.

Just days later, on Nov. 26, 2025, Trump called New York Times reporter Katie Rogers "a third rate reporter who is ugly, both inside and out" in a Truth Social post, the day after she co-wrote a story on signs of aging in the president. The Times said its reporting was "accurate and built on first-hand reporting," according to the same NBC News report.

Republicans Split Over the Vivek Ramaswamy Ad

Trump's defense puts him at odds with Ohio's Republican governor. Governor Mike DeWine, who is term-limited, denounced the ad on Thursday, Cleveland 19 News reported. "It's wrong to run this ad. I would urge Ramaswamy's campaign to take this down," DeWine said.

Former Ohio Governor John Kasich, also a Republican, said the ad "should be taken off the air," while Senator Jon Husted and Secretary of State Frank LaRose both said they would not have run it, according to the same report. The campaign is spending $4 million to air the spot on television and online.

But the party's top two figures have backed Ramaswamy. Vice President JD Vance dismissed Republicans "whining" about the ad, and Trump had already said Ramaswamy was "hitting pay dirt" with it, the report said. On Friday, faced with questions about the stepfather, Trump made that defense in person.

"You're a horrible little reporter, aren't you?" — President Donald Trump

What It Means for the Ohio Governor's Race

Ramaswamy, a biotech entrepreneur and 2024 Republican presidential candidate, trails Acton by 3.1 points in PolitiKool's polling average for the contest, less than two weeks before Election Day on November 3.

The ad fight has also opened a rift on the right beyond Ohio. Conservative host Candace Owens said she would not "lift a finger" for Ramaswamy over the spot.

Trump goes into the final stretch with 37.5 percent approval and 59.4 percent disapproval in PolitiKool's polling average. Whether the president's backing helps Ramaswamy hold Ohio, or whether DeWine's warning proves right, will be settled in 11 days.