GOP lawmakers chafing at Trump's latest attempt to 'bully' them: report

President Donald Trump’s full-throated defense of Ohio gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, and his push for Republicans to rally around him, has some in the party chafing, according to CNN.

In an analysis, CNN’s Aaron Blake wrote that Trump’s “latest move is trying to bully Republicans into embracing a highly controversial political ad.” Blake argued the president has been causing headaches for his party for months, “even long after most presidents would’ve taken the Election Day cue to rein themselves in.”

The ad from Ramaswamy, a Republican, features the estranged mother of his Democratic opponent, Amy Acton, calling Acton a liar. Ramaswamy’s campaign has confirmed it made the ad. Acton has said she hasn’t seen her mother since she was 12, when her mother lost custody of her children and the man she married was indicted for allegedly sexually abusing Acton, CNN reported.

Blake wrote that Trump defended the ad Thursday and "urged Republicans" to own it. According to Blake, Trump told an Iowa rally crowd that Ramaswamy had called him for advice on "whether to take it down," and that he told him to leave it up. Asked about criticism from Rep. Ashley Hinson (R-IA), the Republican Senate candidate in Iowa, Trump said, “That’s her opinion,” ABC News reported.

Hinson told ABC’s Jonathan Karl, “I think they should take the ad down.” Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R),), who endorsed Ramaswamy, said the campaign “needs to take it down.” “It’s wrong to run this ad,” DeWine told reporters. Sen. Jon Husted (R-OH) said, “I would not have run that ad,” ABC reported.

Vice President JD Vance has defended the ad. He said he was “disgusted” by the Republican pushback, ABC reported.

Blake wrote that it is “one thing” for Husted and other Ohio Republicans to speak out, “another for a key GOP candidate from outside Ohio’s borders to openly criticize it.” He added that Trump “is essentially asking his party to own something that it’s clearly very uncomfortable owning, just to help one candidate who might or might not benefit from it.”