1 hour ago
Donald Trump urged Vivek Ramaswamy to keep airing an advertisement featuring Amy Acton's estranged birth mother. The dispute has deepened Republican divisions in Ohio as key statewide races tighten.
Stock photo used for illustration
US President Donald Trump has urged Republican Ohio governor candidate Vivek Ramaswamy to continue running a controversial advertisement featuring the estranged birth mother of his Democratic opponent, Amy Acton, news agency Press Trust of India reported.
Trump also criticised Ohio Governor Mike DeWine, a Republican who has endorsed Ramaswamy but described the advertisement as “deeply, deeply troubling”. Ramaswamy, a biotech entrepreneur and former presidential candidate, plans to spend USD 4 million to broadcast it online and on television.
The advertisement features Acton’s birth mother, Donna Arthur, calling her “a liar” and suggesting that she has mental health problems. Trump said in a social media post that the advertisement was “hitting pay dirt”.
Referring to DeWine, Trump wrote: “He strongly suggested that Vivek should, ‘take down the Ad.’ He probably wants a Dumocrat to win, and certainly doesn’t want someone who will do a much better job than he is capable of doing.”
Trump added: “I suggested, on the other hand, that Vivek should keep it up, and let everyone listen to the mother of a defective, dishonest, and incapable Candidate, explain how the daughter is a DISASTER who, uncontrollably, lies, cheats, and steals!”
DeWine, speaking to reporters at the Ohio Statehouse, recalled the experiences of rape survivors he had dealt with while serving as a county prosecutor and state attorney general.
“It’s wrong to run this ad,” he said. “And, even at this late time — my wife, Fran, saw the ad just run this morning on TV — I would just urge the Ramaswamy campaign to take this down.”
Acton previously served as a health official in DeWine’s administration and was Ohio’s health director during the COVID-19 pandemic. She has spoken publicly about facing homelessness and abuse as a child.
Her mother lost custody of Acton and her brother after Donna Arthur’s husband, the children’s stepfather, was indicted on a charge of raping Acton. Acton’s campaign on Tuesday released a video in which her brother supported her account of living in a tent and facing abuse.
Despite criticising the advertisement, DeWine stopped short of withdrawing his endorsement of Ramaswamy. He also recalled an earlier attack by the Acton campaign that mentioned Ramaswamy’s mother and said that was wrong because “family members have always historically been off limits”. However, he noted that the claim was not used in a multimillion-dollar advertising campaign.
The criticism during the summer cited an investigative report about Geetha Ramaswamy’s role at a pharmaceutical company run by her son. Acton and other Democrats described it as Ramaswamy “hiring his own mother to manipulate clinical trial data”.
The Ramaswamy campaign called those claims “slanderous” and said he was being held to a different standard from Acton and other Democrats who had attacked the families of Republicans.
“Governor DeWine is correct that the first and only candidate to attack the mother of her opponent in this race was Amy Acton,” campaign spokesperson Connie Luck said in a statement, according to PTI. “We refuse to accept the media’s double standards.”
The advertisement has widened divisions among Ohio Republicans as the races for governor and the US Senate appear closer than expected in a state Trump won comfortably three times.
US Vice President JD Vance, an Ohio native, expressed disgust with Republicans who were “whining” that the advertisement was in poor taste. However, Republican US Senator Jon Husted, DeWine’s former lieutenant governor, said he would not have run it. Husted is contesting a close retention race against Democrat Sherrod Brown.
Republican Secretary of State Frank LaRose, who is running for state auditor, also said he would not have run the advertisement. Former US representative Jim Renacci wrote on X that “the floor may have just fallen out from under the Republican campaign for Ohio Governor” and urged Republicans to distance themselves from it.
Ohio Republican Party chairman Alex Triantafilou responded with a social media post that appeared to warn party members. “The final days of a tough campaign are always the best time to find out who is really with you and who just posts and pretends,” he wrote. “Yes — we are keeping score.” He followed the post with a winking-eye emoji.
The advertisement has also divided Republicans nationally. Nikki Haley, who clashed with Ramaswamy during the 2024 Republican presidential primary over the personal nature of his attacks, called him “a bad guy” in a social media post. “It’s a shame he continues to get away with it,” she wrote.
Media Matters for America, a left-leaning media watchdog group, reported that several conservative media figures had promoted and praised the advertisement. Ramaswamy’s campaign manager, Jonathan Ewing, described it as “a campaign-ending moment for Amy Acton”.
Wayne Allyn Root of Gateway Pundit called it “absolutely hilarious”, while Daily Wire host Michael Knowles described it as “brilliant”.
Police and court records show that Cledith Arthur was arrested and charged with raping Acton in July 1978, when she was 12, after her biological father filed a formal complaint. The alleged abuse took place between December 1976 and April 1978. Cledith Arthur failed to appear in court and became a fugitive. Donna Arthur remained married to him until his death in 2004.
The dispute has left prominent Republicans divided, with Trump and some conservative media figures backing the advertisement while DeWine and several other party leaders have called for it to be withdrawn.
With PTI Inputs
- Ends
