WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Thursday praised a campaign ad from Ohio Republican governor candidate Vivek Ramaswamy that features the estranged mother of Democratic opponent Amy Acton, even as Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine urged that it be pulled, CBS News reported.
In the ad, Acton’s mother, Donna Arthur, calls her daughter a “liar.” Acton’s campaign condemned it, and her brother, Philip Stearns, called it a “despicable low.”
Court documents supplied by the Acton campaign show Arthur’s late husband was charged with raping Acton when she was between 10 and 12 years old. He pleaded not guilty and left the area while out on bond, and the case never went to trial.
“It’s wrong to run this ad,” DeWine told reporters, though he did not withdraw his endorsement of Ramaswamy. Trump wrote on Truth Social that he advised Ramaswamy to keep it up, and Vice President JD Vance has also defended it.
Ohio voters choose their next governor Nov. 3.
Sources: CBS News. Thee Arizona Times uses AI-assisted reporting reviewed against the sources listed.
Photo: Gage Skidmore / CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons.
