A number of prominent Republicans have spoken out both in support of, and against, a controversial campaign advert produced by Ohio GOP gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, which features the estranged mother of his Democratic rival Amy Acton accusing her of having told “lies about her past.” On Thursday President Trump urged Ramaswamy to continue using the advert in a post on his Truth Social website, describing it as “a very powerful Ad” and describing Ohio Republican Governor Mike DeWine, who said it was “deeply, deeply troubling,” as a “RINO [Republican in name only].” The dispute highlights the disagreement within the GOP over what constitutes acceptable election tactics primarily between supporters of Trump’s MAGA [Make America Great Again] movement, and some more traditional Republicans. Newsweek contacted the Ramaswamy and Acton campaigns for comment via email on Friday outside of regular office hours. Ramaswamy’s campaign advert features Donna Arthur, Acton’s estranged mother, talking about her daughter.
In the approximately one-minute video Arthur says: “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.” Arthur said her daughter “says she grew up living in a tent–none of that is true.” She continues, “my daughter needs help" before concluding “Don't vote for people who lie. Don't let her become your governor.” The allegations made by Arthur in the advert have not been independently verified.
During a 2019 interview with the Youngstown Vindicator, Acton said she had lived in “18 or so” homes during the first 12 years of her life and at one point spent a winter living in a tent at a campground near Youngstown. Acton has previously said she was sexually abused by her stepfather as a child and removed from her mother’s custody at age 12. This account has been supported by Acton’s brother Philip Stearns.
The reported Acton’s stepfather was charged with raping her when she was 12. He was indicted by a grand jury in 1979 but failed to attend the subsequent court hearing and was a fugitive until at least 1981. In a statement posted on Facebook Acton said: “Between the ages of 10 and 12, I was sexually abused by her husband, while my birth mother did nothing to protect me.” https://www.axios.com/2026/10/21/ramaswamy-ad-acton-mother-ohio She added: “I've always known that she was deeply sick and unwell, and it's sad to see Vivek Ramaswamy exploit her all for his own political gain.” Ramaswamy campaign spokesperson Connie Luck said: “We don't know what happened between Amy and her mother, who first spoke out about Amy in 2020, but we know that Amy Acton is a serial fabulist who has some serious problems with the truth that the public needs to be aware of before deciding who to entrust as governor.” The advert has proven controversial within the Republican Party with senior figures both criticizing and supporting it, as outlined below: Speaking to reporters, including from the Statehouse News Bureau which covers state politics, on Thursday Ohio’s outgoing Republican Governor DeWine described the advert as “deeply, deeply troubling.” He added: “But when you know the rest of the story, when you know the back story, when you know that the husband of the mom was indicted by a grand jury after hearing testimony and that he took off along with the mother, and that the two children never saw the mother after that.
When you know that it, just to me, makes it more serious. It makes it just more wrong.” DeWine continued: “It's wrong to run this ad. I would just urge the Ramaswamy campaign to take this down.
It's just wrong.” However, DeWine said he was still endorsing the whole Republican ticket, including Ramaswamy. Speaking to ABC News on Thursday Rep. Ashley Hinson, a Republican Iowa Senate candidate, described the advert as “terrible” adding: “I think about it as a mom and you think about your kids surviving childhood sexual abuse and having to relive that trauma on TV again.
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