Ohio’s Republican governor urged the campaign to pull the ad. Several GOP figures have criticized it, while Vice President Vance defended it.
President Donald Trump on Thursday praised an ad by Ohio Republican gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy that features the estranged mother of Democratic candidate Amy Acton, and he criticized Republican Gov. Mike DeWine for calling for the ad to be taken down.
The ad first circulated on social media Monday and is now on television. In it, Acton’s estranged mother, Donna Arthur, calls Acton a liar and seeks to undermine her credibility. Acton’s campaign condemned the ad, and her brother, Philip Stearns, called it despicable. According to court documents provided by the Acton campaign, Arthur’s late husband was charged with sexually assaulting Acton when she was a child. He pleaded not guilty and left the area while out on bond, and the case never went to trial. Stearns said their mother stayed married to the man until he died.
In a Truth Social post, Trump said he told Ramaswamy to keep the ad up and said he would run such an ad himself, calling it “hitting pay dirt.” The post did not mention why Acton and her mother are estranged. Asked about it later at the White House, Trump said he knew nothing about the backstory but defended the ad, saying he would take the same position if it were about his own mother.
DeWine said it is wrong to run the ad and urged Ramaswamy’s campaign to take it down, though he did not rescind his endorsement. Trump criticized DeWine as disloyal to the party. Vice President JD Vance also defended the ad and told Republican critics to stop whining. Other Republicans were less supportive: Sen. John Husted, who is running for reelection, said he would not have run it, and Rep. Nancy Mace called it the most shameful ad of the election season. Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose said he probably wouldn’t run such an ad but that each candidate makes their own decision.