A number of prominent Republicans have criticized Ohio gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy and his campaign over an attack ad featuring the estranged mother of his Democratic rival, Amy Acton. In the one-minute video—which the Ramaswamy campaign confirms it produced and will spend $4 million airing in the closing days of the race—Donna Arthur calls her daughter a “liar” with a “serious problem.” “She lies about her past. She says she grew up living in a tent.
She’s lied her entire life,” Arthur says. Acton, former director of the Ohio Department of Health, has been open about facing sexual abuse and homelessness during her childhood. Her brother, Philip Stearns, has said that the family spent time living in a tent growing up and that their mother lost custody of her children after her husband, Cledith Arthur, was arrested and charged with sexually abusing Acton.
Stearns said the pair were together until his death. The ad has drawn widespread criticism as exploitative, and the backlash is seen as a major hurdle for Ramaswamy’s campaign ahead of Election Day on November 3. Much of this criticism has come from Republicans, including those who previously endorsed the Ohioan entrepreneur.
Commentator Meghan McCain called the ad “dastardly,” while former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley—who called Ramaswamy “scum” during a presidential primary debate in 2023—said the episode underscored her longstanding feelings about him. It’s a shame he continues to get away with it.” Newsweek contacted both campaigns on Wednesday via email for comment "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," Acton’s mother said in the ad. She's lied her entire life." The statements made by Arthur in the video are allegations and have not been corroborated by Ramaswamy’s team.
In response to criticisms, a spokesperson for the campaign told Newsweek in an emailed statement Tuesday that “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 campaign said Acton's mother was not paid for the ad and told the Statehouse News Bureau it would spend millions of dollars airing it across Ohio because it performed well with “persuadable” voters. Acton’s campaign, in response, put out a statement from her brother, who said it was unsurprising that Ramaswamy “has stooped to such a despicable low as to attempt to turn the sexual abuse Amy endured at twelve years old from our birth mother’s husband into a political talking point.” “This desperate, disgusting attack reveals exactly who Vivek Ramaswamy is at his core – a pathetic excuse for a man who is willing to hurt anyone as long as it gets him what he wants,” the statement continued. The ad has faced cross-party condemnation since it first surfaced on social media.
On Wednesday, the editorial board of the Columbus Dispatch officially endorsed Acton over Ramaswamy, while calling the ad “revolting and unsettling.” “It should go without saying that sexual violence against children should not be politicized or taken as lightly as Ramaswamy appears to take it,” they wrote. The Democratic strategist Paul Begala called it the “scummiest” thing he had ever seen in politics. And Acton’s campaign has since aired a counter-ad featuring her brother, which criticizes her opponent for turning childhood sexual abuse into a “talking point.” Casey Putsch, a Republican who ran against Ramaswamy in the gubernatorial primary, took to X on Tuesday to announce that he would be voting for Acton.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
