President Donald Trump is going to war with Ohio’s Republican governor over a controversial attack ad featuring Democrat Amy Acton’s estranged mother, urging Vivek Ramaswamy to keep it on the air.
In a lengthy Truth Social post, Trump accused Gov. Mike DeWine of being disloyal to the Republican Party for calling on Ramaswamy to pull the ad. He also branded Acton, the Democratic nominee for governor, a liar, while acknowledging he had never heard of her before.
“I only wish the mothers of my opponents would be so brave as to come forward and explain that their son or daughter is a liar, and much worse,” Trump wrote.
He even invoked his late mother, Mary MacLeod Trump, claiming the media would have celebrated an ad in which she criticized him.
The ad, which began circulating Monday, features Acton’s mother, Donna Arthur, repeatedly calling her daughter a liar, CBS News reported.
Acton has been estranged from her mother for decades. Arthur’s husband, Cledith Arthur, was charged with sexually abusing Acton, who was 12 at the time, according to court records obtained by News 5 Cleveland. Her mother lost custody, and after pleading not guilty, Cledith Arthur posted bond and fled, remaining a fugitive until his death in 2004, the records show.
“I think it was a terrible thing to do this to someone who is not well, as my birth mother isn’t,” Acton told WSYX-TV.
DeWine, a Republican, summoned reporters to the Statehouse Thursday to denounce the ad as deeply troubling and said it needs to come down, though he said he was not withdrawing his endorsement of Ramaswamy.
Other Republicans have also broken with the ad. Sen. Jon Husted (R-OH) said he would not have run it, and former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, who clashed with Ramaswamy during a 2023 presidential debate, posted that he is a bad guy, the Ohio Capital Journal reported.
Vice President JD Vance, campaigning with Ramaswamy, told reporters that whether the ad was appropriate was “not really my concern” and that he was “a little bit disgusted” by Republicans “whining more about that advertisement” than about Democrats’ agenda. Former Ohio House Speaker Ryan Smith, a Republican, fired back on social media that it was “beyond ridiculous to defend a horrible ad and criticize people for whining,” accusing Vance of embarrassing the party.
Ramaswamy has acknowledged the ad came from his campaign and defended it, saying Acton has been hiding from the issues and refusing to debate him. His campaign plans to spend millions promoting it.
Trump claimed Ramaswamy is leading in the polls, but Acton is ahead by about 3.6 points in the RealClearPolitics average, and a Marist poll taken last week showed her up 7 points among likely voters ahead of the Nov. 3 election.