Trump Defends Ramaswamy Ad Featuring Acton's Estranged Mother as DeWine Says Pull It
The president called the Ohio governor's race ad 'very powerful' and attacked Gov. Mike DeWine as a 'RINO' after DeWine urged Ramaswamy's campaign to take it down.
President Trump on Thursday praised a television ad from Ohio Republican gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy that features the estranged mother of Democratic rival Amy Acton, calling it a "very powerful ad" and urging Ramaswamy to keep it on the air even as members of his own party condemned it.
The ad, which first circulated on social media on Monday and has since moved to television, features Acton's estranged mother, Donna Arthur, who calls Acton a "liar" and tries to undermine her credibility. Acton's campaign condemned the spot, and her brother, Philip Stearns, called it a "despicable low." According to court documents provided by the campaign, Arthur's late husband was charged with raping Acton when she was between 10 and 12 years old. He pleaded not guilty and left the area while out on bond, and the case never went to trial. Stearns said their birth mother stayed married to the man until he died.
Trump laid out his defense in a Truth Social post, writing that the press was trying to convince everyone the ad was bad "because it's so good." He went after Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine by name, calling him a "RINO" and accusing him of disloyalty after DeWine said Ramaswamy's campaign should pull the spot. "It's wrong to run this ad," DeWine told reporters on Thursday. He did not rescind his endorsement of Ramaswamy.
Trump's post did not mention why Acton and her birth mother are estranged. When reporters on the White House South Lawn told him the backstory, and CBS News senior White House reporter Weijia Jiang asked why anyone should listen to the mother, the president said he knew nothing about it. "All I know is the mother said very bad things about Acton," he said, adding that he was defending the ad because it would be a major news story if it were about his own mother. He kept up the defense at a rally in Iowa later Thursday, telling the crowd he had advised Ramaswamy to "ride with it."
Vice President JD Vance also backed the ad and told Republicans who have criticized it to "stop whining." Others in the party were not so willing. Ohio Sen. John Husted, who is running for reelection, said he "would not have run that ad." Outgoing Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina called it the "most shameful, disgusting, offensive ad this election season." Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose said he "probably wouldn't run an ad like that," but added that every candidate gets to make their own decision.
The fight lands less than two weeks before Election Day in one of the country's most closely watched governor's races, with Acton, a Democrat and former Ohio health director, facing Ramaswamy, the Republican nominee. Stearns said the attack turns the sexual abuse his sister endured as a child into a political talking point, and he called it a revealing moment for Ramaswamy's character. So far Ramaswamy's campaign has shown no sign of pulling the ad, and with the president and vice president now publicly urging him to leave it up, the pressure on him to keep it running has only grown.
