Conservatives are expressing second thoughts about Republican gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy over an attack ad featuring the long-estranged mother of his Democratic opponent, Amy Acton, which Acton’s campaign has blamed on him.
The ad, which features Acton’s mother, Donna Arthur, accusing her of lying about her background and about Ramaswamy, began circulating online late Monday and was shared by conservatives, including Donald Trump Jr., some of whom promoted it as a bombshell. But Ramaswamy faced growing backlash as details came to light about the Democratic candidate’s childhood.
Acton, a physician, told a reporter in 2019 that her stepfather sexually abused her as a child. He was charged with rape in 1978, and she has said the last time she saw her mother was at the courthouse after the charges were filed. Her mother and stepfather later left the state. Acton’s brother, Philip Stearns, said in a statement that their mother “stayed married to Amy’s rapist until he died.”
It’s not clear who produced the ad, and Ramaswamy’s campaign did not respond to requests for comment. Ramaswamy has been trailing Acton in most recent polling, and one GOP analyst pointed to a slide in his odds on prediction markets after the ad surfaced.
“Vivek Ramaswamy’s chances reach new all-time low,” observed GOP analyst Dominic Michael Tripi, showing his Kalshi chances drop to just 28 percent, “after releasing ad featuring opponent Amy Acton’s estranged mother, who remained with Amy’s stepfather that sexually abused her at 12 years old, ultimately leading to his arrest and Amy’s permanent estrangement from her mother.”
“I voted for Vivek already. And I don’t think that would change,” admitted Pradheep J. Shanker, a National Review contributor. “But that ad made me feel worse... And no campaign wants that to be the take home from their message.”
“Just make sure never to criticize anyone else again for refusing to set ethical standards for their own team,” chided Stan Veuger, of the American Enterprise Institute, in response to Shanker.
“I want to be accurate and fair,” clarified evangelical blogger Jackie Chea, who had promoted the clip. “I didn’t realize that Amy Acton had made sexual abuse allegations against her stepfather & been removed from her mom’s custody at 12yo. I was responding to Amy’s mom making an ad saying her daughter was lying about their housing situation. I have no idea if Amy’s abuse allegations are true, but if they are, then her mother is the monster ... I regret framing the post as if Amy was lying about her mother when I can’t be sure about that.”
“This is a terrible ad that is going to remind people of that one family member who hates them for no rational reason at all and make them feel sympathetic towards Acton,” grimaced GOP operative Liz Mair. “I know when I watched it, I was like ‘egads, if I ever ran for office, I know my opponent could find at least three family members who would cut an ad like this’ and all three of those people are people I consider to be deeply psychologically unwell, petty, spiteful, and generally wrong on most things and not credible. In brief, it pushed me towards Acton, not away from her.”
“Reminder, the worst conservatives on the internet have been endlessly vouching for Vivek and he’s always been awful,” opined GOP strategist Ryan James Girdusky.
“I’ve never really understood the disdain for Vivek Ramaswamy,” pondered Reason’s Billy Binion. “The new ad with Amy Acton’s abusive mom has fixed that. If I were an Ohioan, that alone would be enough to swing my vote. No normal, well-adjusted human being with a basic understanding of social cues would do that.”
“Vivek should apologize to Amy,” stated Wisconsin College Republicans. “Weaponizing personal and traumatic family trauma for political hits is not something men of honor do.”