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Trump Defends Vivek Ramaswamy’s Ohio Attack Ad Against Amy Acton, Urges It Stay On Air
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Trump defends Ramaswamy's Ohio ad featuring Acton's estranged mother calling her a liar Top Republicans urged Ramaswamy to drop the ad, which Trump supported
One story. Different accounts.
NBC News“They don’t know the facts.”
The Guardian“DeWine had implored Ramaswamy to take the ad down, but hours later, Trump urged Ramaswamy to keep airing it”
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Trump backs Ramaswamy ad
President Donald Trump defended Vivek Ramaswamy’s controversial Ohio gubernatorial attack ad featuring Amy Acton’s estranged mother, Donna Arthur, and said it was “hitting pay dirt.”
Trump told reporters, “No, it’s a mother speaking badly against Amy Acton,” and he added, “If it were my mother speaking badly about me, you’d be making it the No. 1 story on the news.”
Trump also said, “A mother is saying, ‘Don’t put my daughter there, because she’s a terrible person and she’s a liar.’ Why shouldn’t somebody use that?” while he doubled down on support for the ad.
Vivek Ramaswamy defended the spot by saying it “had nothing to do with childhood abuse, which I will be the No. 1 governor to prosecute when I am the governor of this state,” and his campaign told NBC News it planned a $4 million push to air the ad.
The ad drew immediate criticism from Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, who called it “deeply, deeply troubling,” while Trump urged Ramaswamy to keep airing it despite those calls.
DeWine urges removal
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine urged the Ramaswamy campaign to take the ad down, telling reporters, “It’s wrong to run this ad,” and he added, “I would just urge the Ramaswamy campaign to take this down.”
DeWine also said on Thursday that the ad is “deeply, deeply troubling,” while Trump rebuked DeWine as “disloyal to the Republican party” in a social media post.
Vice President JD Vance dismissed criticism by saying, “Whether the ad was appropriate or not is not really my concern,” and he said he was “a little bit disgusted when I see Republicans across the country who are whining more about that advertisement.”
Sen. Jon Husted criticized the ad by saying, “I would not have run that ad,” and Ohio Republican Secretary of State Frank LaRose said his office was reviewing complaints to see if the ad violated any state laws.
At a rally in Iowa, Trump said he told Ramaswamy, “You gotta ride with it,” and he later claimed, “I suggested, on the other hand, that Vivek should keep it up.”
Midterms and party rifts
The ad controversy unfolded as the midterm campaign approached, with the NBC News account describing Trump’s support for a $4 million ad campaign and the Guardian noting Ramaswamy’s plan to spend “$4m to air the ad across the state.” Trump’s defense also fed a widening rift among Ohio Republicans, and the PBS account said DeWine declined to drop his endorsement of Ramaswamy “for now” while the governor stopped short of pulling his backing. The PBS account said the Ramaswamy campaign called its critics’ claims “slanderous” and said it was being held to a different standard than Acton and other Democrats who have attacked Republicans’ families.
The Daily Beast described Trump’s explanation of his call with Ramaswamy and quoted Trump saying, “I said, ‘You gotta ride with it,” while it also quoted Trump praising the ad as “the single greatest ad in history.” The dispute left multiple Republicans publicly distancing themselves, with the PBS account naming Jon Husted, Frank LaRose, and Jim Renacci as critics, and it also quoted Ohio Republican Party Chairman Alex Triantafilou writing, “Yes—we are” as he warned about who was “really with you.”
