Trump doubles down on support for Ramaswamy after controversial ad targeting his Democratic opponent

Donald Trump came to the defense of Vivek Ramaswamy, the Republican candidate for governor of Ohio, over a controversial campaign ad featuring the estranged mother of his Democratic opponent, Amy Acton, criticizing her own daughter and urging voters not to vote for her. While Ramaswamy defended the ad, Democrats and Republicans alike criticized it.

On Truth Social, the president said the ad aims to keep Ohio voters from making a bad electoral decision. He also questioned the video's negative media coverage and claimed he would have used a similar strategy.

"Frankly, anybody whose mother spoke about a daughter in that way would normally lead to the daughter being precluded from serving in Office, let alone the Office of Governor. If my mother, the legendary Mary MacLeod Trump, said anything bad about me, the Fake News would play it up. The Dumocrats would be totally supportive, and it would go down as the Ad of the Decade — Maybe the Century! It would win Awards for Excellence in Advertising," Trump wrote.

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"But, because Vivek, who will be a GREAT Governor, put it out, the 'Artificial' News has teamed up against him in order to damage, demean, and embarrass a Republican who is leading in the Polls," he added.

Ramaswamy, an entrepreneur and former presidential candidate, will face off on November 3 against Acton, who served as Ohio's health director from 2019 to 2020. The winner will succeed Republican Mike DeWine, who was one of the Republicans who criticized Ramaswamy's ad. "It's wrong to air this ad," the governor said, adding that he "would urge Ramaswamy’s campaign to take this down."

In his post, Trump took the opportunity to criticize the governor, accusing him of being "disloyal to the Republican Party." "He probably wants a Democrat to win, and certainly doesn't want someone who will do a much better job than he is capable of doing," he added.

The controversy over the ad against Amy Acton

With the election just weeks away, a video of Donna Arthur, Acton's mother, went viral as she asked Ohio voters not to elect her: "I love my daughter, but when I saw her lying about her opponent—and it's not easy for a mother to say this—but Amy has a serious problem."

"She is a liar. She lies about her past. She says she grew up living in a tent. None of that is true. She's lied her entire life. My daughter needs help, and she can't help you if she needs help herself. People can change, but first they have to tell the truth, and my daughter still isn't doing that," she added.

In response, Acton's campaign released a statement from her brother, Philip Stearns, who referred to Arthur as "an estranged and abusive mother." He also criticized Ramaswamy, whose campaign did not claim responsibility for the ad, stating that he did not expect Ramaswamy to stoop "to such a despicable low " as to "turn into a political talking point" the sexual abuse Acton suffered at age 12 at the hands of his mother's husband.

According to police and court documents obtained by The Associated Press, Cledith Arthur, Amy Acton's stepfather, was arrested in July 1978 and charged with raping his stepdaughter, who was 12 years old at the time. The alleged abuse is said to have occurred between December 1976 and April 1978. Arthur pleaded not guilty and was formally indicted by a grand jury in September of that year. He subsequently failed to appear at a court hearing and remained a fugitive at least until 1981. He died years later.

Acton has publicly recounted that she suffered abuse and neglect during her childhood and that, at age 12, she even lived in a tent during a period when her family was homeless.