CNN reporter Jim Acosta on Thursday asked White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders if she thinks Roy Moore is a "creep."
Moore, the Alabama Republican Senate candidate, faces a swirl of sexual misconduct allegations that have prompted calls by top Republicans for him to leave the race.
Sanders was first asked by Acosta whether President Donald Trump would campaign with Moore.
"Not that I'm aware of," Sanders said.
"And can I ask you a follow-up? Do you think he's a creep?" Acosta asked.
"Do I?" Sanders asked. "Look, I don't know Roy Moore. I haven't met him in person, so I wouldn't be able to respond to that."
Sanders said to repeated questions during the briefing that the White House found the accusations "extremely troubling" but did not say Trump wanted Moore to step aside.
The accusations include that Moore initiated a sexual encounter with a 14-year-old girl when he was 32. Another woman said Moore violently tried to make her perform oral sex on him when she was 16.
The Washington Post, which broke the original story, reported Wednesday on two more women who described unwanted advances from Moore at an Alabama mall when they were teenagers.
Moore has denied all allegations against him as false and politically motivated.
"If you are a liberal and hate Judge Moore, apparently he groped you," the campaign said in a statement. "If you are a conservative and love Judge Moore, you know these allegations are a political farce."