Vice President JD Vance speaks during a campaign rally at the Sharonville Convention Center, in Sharonville, Ohio, US October 21, 2026. Jacquelyn Martin/Pool via REUTERS
Vice President JD Vance disgusted onlookers by defending a widely condemned attack ad targeting a Democratic gubernatorial candidate in his home state of Ohio.
The vice president was asked Wednesday at campaign event near Cincinnati to comment on fellow Republican Vivek Ramaswamy’s ad featuring the long-estranged mother of Democrat Amy Acton, but Vance declined to criticize the spot.
"I’ll be honest with you, whether the ad was appropriate or not is not really my concern," Vance said. "What is my concern is who’s going to govern the next generation of American government, who is going to win the Senate race in the state of Ohio, who is going to win the governor’s race in the state of Ohio."
Acton's biological mother Darla Arthur lost custody of her two children in 1978 after her husband was indicted for raping her daughter, then 12, and she then fled the state to help him avoid prosecution, and Ramaswamy has faced intense criticism for featuring her in the ad – but Vance criticized other Republicans who agreed.
"I’ve got to be honest, that when I see Republicans — people in my party — reacting so strongly, especially elected officials — look, have the opinion you want to have on that ad," Vance said. "If you think it was too tough, say it was too tough. If you think it wasn’t tough enough, say that."
"But I have to admit that I’m a little bit disgusted," Vance added, "when I see Republicans across the country who are whining more about that advertisement than they are about what the congressional Democrats and other Democrats want to do to the United States of America."
Onlookers were astonished by the position the vice president staked out.
"JD Vance just turned Vivek’s disgraceful ad into a national liability for Republicans," gasped right-wing politician James Fishback.
"That charmless JD Vance is more bothered with Republicans who noticed that an ad using a lying pedophile-supporter to besmirch the reputation of Vivek Ramaswamy's opponent is wildly inappropriate than the ad itself tells you that JD Vance is morally bankrupt," posted the popular Mrs. Betty Bowers account.
"Remember: Vance is Ramaswamy‘s best friend, and Vance is the man who admitted he knew the Haitians eating pet story was false and defended it by saying he sometimes 'makes up a story' to make a 'bigger point,'" reminded widely followed X user Amy Roark. "Vance is a very dangerous man."
"If there’s anyone in politics who should understand what it’s like to have a mother who failed you it’s JD Vance," opined Rolling Stone's Nikki McCann Ramírez. "He will betray himself again and again in service of his political goals and it’s pathetic."
"Ohio-born Vice President JD Vance weighs in on the Vivek Ramaswamy ad, he says that whether the ad is inappropriate 'is not really my concern," noted Ohio journalist David DeWitt.
"Of course he did. PoS," sighed author and activist Amy Siskind.
"This is not gonna age well," smirked writer Molly Jong-Fast.
"He may very well be the most deplorable, soulless man alive," jeered widely followed writer Peter Rothpletz.
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