Why Vivek Ramaswamy’s ad featuring Amy Acton’s mother has divided Republicans in Ohio

Trump advises the Republican gubernatorial candidate to keep running the controversial advertisement.

5 min readOct 24, 2026 09:23 AM IST First published on: Oct 24, 2026 at 09:14 AM IST

Ohio Republican gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy and US President Donald Trump. (File Photo)

US President Donald Trump has told Ohio Republican Vivek Ramaswamy to keep running an attack ad that features the estranged mother of his Democratic rival, Amy Acton, ABC News said on October 23. Trump wrote on social media on Thursday that he would run such an ad himself, calling it “hitting pay dirt”.

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine and other Republicans have asked the campaign to pull it. Ramaswamy defended the ad at a campaign stop in northeast Ohio on Friday. The race for governor is tight, and voters go to the polls in the midterm elections on November 3.

What the ad shows

The ad began to circulate on social media on Monday. In it, Acton’s mother, Donna Arthur, calls her daughter a liar and says she has not told the truth about her past and her childhood. The ad also disputes Acton’s account of homelessness and sexual abuse by her stepfather, and urges Ohioans not to vote for her.

President Trump says Governor candidate Vivek Ramaswamy (R-OH) asked him for advice regarding controversial ad featuring opponent Amy Acton’s (D-OH) estranged mother: "You gotta ride with it." https://t.co/b30R5BhsxA

— CSPAN (@cspan) October 23, 2026

Ramaswamy confirmed on Tuesday that his campaign made the ad. His campaign is spending $4 million to promote it. At a stop on Friday, he said the ad is about honesty and has nothing to do with the abuse Acton faced as a child. “The irony is they are lying about an ad that is about lying,” he said.

Trump hits out at DeWine

Trump said on social media that Ramaswamy should leave the ad up, and he called Arthur “brave” for speaking out against her daughter. At a rally in Iowa on Thursday, he said Ramaswamy had called him for advice and that he told him to ride with it.

President Trump hasn’t changed his stance on a controversial ad used by Ohio GOP gubernatorial nominee Vivek Ramaswamy featuring the mother of Democratic opponent Amy Acton, he told CBS News’ @weijia on Friday. Despite reporters bringing up Acton’s mother stayed with her stepfather after being charged with raping Acton as a child, Trump continued to defend the ad. "Her mother went on television and said that the daughter who is running for the governor of Ohio is a liar and a bad person, and that’s all I know."

— CBS News (@CBSNews) October 23, 2026

Trump also attacked DeWine, who had told reporters in Columbus that the ad is “deeply, deeply troubling” and that the campaign needs to take it down, ABC News said. Trump called the governor disloyal to the Republican Party and said he probably wants a Democrat to win. DeWine, who was a prosecutor in several rape cases, said everyone has a duty to speak up for victims. He added that he is not changing his endorsement of Ramaswamy.

Republicans are split

DeWine is not the only Republican to criticise the ad. ABC News said Iowa Senate candidate Ashley Hinson told Jonathan Karl for “This Week” that the campaign should take it down. She said she thought about it as a mother and about a child having to relive that trauma. She also called Vice President JD Vance’s remarks on the matter “ridiculous”.

Story continues below this ad

Ohio Senator Jon Husted, who is running for re-election, said he would not have run the ad. Former Ohio Congressman Jim Renacci asked Ramaswamy to move on from it quickly. Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose said his office is checking complaints to see whether the ad broke any state laws, but he added that each candidate answers for their own ads.

Vance defended the ad at a campaign event on Wednesday. He said Ramaswamy had called Acton a liar and that he was “a little bit disgusted” with Republicans who complain about the ad more than about Democratic plans. ABC News said DeWine, who was Acton’s boss when she ran the Ohio Department of Health, said that in his experience she told the truth.

Acton’s account and the race ahead

Acton has spoken in public about the abuse she faced and about her broken relationship with her mother. She says she has not seen her mother since 1978. ABC News said she alleges that her mother’s second husband abused her between the ages of 9 and 12. Court papers seen by the Associated Press(AP) show he was arrested in July 1978 and charged with raping her when she was 12. He pleaded not guilty, did not turn up to a court hearing, and died in 2004. Acton’s brother, Philip Stearns, has backed her account.

Acton has called the ad “despicable” and exploitative. Her campaign said Ramaswamy’s decision to promote it was predictable. Opinion polls show Acton narrowly ahead in the race to replace DeWine, who cannot run again because of term limits.

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