Ohio’s Republican governor Mike DeWine on Thursday said gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy was “wrong” to release an ad critical of his Democratic rival Amy Acton that featured her estranged mother, and implored Ramaswamy to take the ad down. DeWine’s comments drew a swift rebuke from Donald Trump, who urged Ramaswamy to keep the ad up. Acton, who has led the Republican nominee Ramaswamy in recent polls of the governor’s race, has said she has not seen her mother Donna Arthur for decades, after she married a man who sexually abused her when she was 12 years old and stayed with him even after police stepped in.
Calling the ad “deeply, deeply troubling”, DeWine told reporters at the Ohio state capital. The video, which began circulating on social media earlier this week and Ramaswamy’s campaign later told Ohio media outlets is their work, shows Arthur calling her daughter “a liar” and saying she should not be put in charge of the state. Ramaswamy’s campaign said later in the week it would spend $4m to air the ad across the state.
DeWine noted that “family members have always historically been off limits” and Acton had earlier this year mentioned Ramaswamy’s mother’s involvement in an alleged “pump and dump” scheme, though with less prominence than the Ramaswamy ad. On Truth Social Thursday afternoon, Trump excoriated DeWine for his comments, saying DeWine was “disloyal to the Republican party”. Voters shouldn’t buy it.” Speaking to reporters in Cincinnati on Wednesday, vice-president JD Vance dismissed criticism of Ramaswamy’s campaign.
Politics is a tough business.” In a statement released by Acton’s campaign, her brother, Philip Stearns, called the ad “a despicable low” for Ramaswamy, and noted that he and his sister were removed from Arthur’s custody after her stepfather was arrested. Republican US senator Jon Husted, who is facing a election bid that could decide which party controls the chamber in the 3 November midterm elections, joined in the condemnation. His Democratic opponent, former senator Sherrod Brown, has called the video “disgusting”, and said all candidates should denounce it.
Ohio’s Republican secretary of state Frank LaRose also criticized Ramaswamy, telling Columbus-area broadcaster ABC 6: “I probably wouldn’t run an ad like that, but every candidate gets to make their own decision.” DeWine nonetheless declined to drop his endorsement of Ramaswamy in the governor’s race, saying he wanted to support the “full ticket” of Republican candidates in the midterms.
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