Trump Tells Ramaswamy to Keep the Ad That Split His Own Party

Trump Tells Ramaswamy to Keep the Ad That Split His Own Party

A $4 million ad stars the opponent's estranged mother

The Ohio governor's race took an ugly turn this week when Vivek Ramaswamy's campaign aired an advertisement featuring Donna Arthur, the estranged birth mother of Democratic nominee Amy Acton, calling her daughter "a liar" and suggesting she should not run the state. Acton's campaign called it a disgusting smear built around an estranged, abusive mother. Ramaswamy's team later confirmed it produced the spot and said it would spend $4 million airing it across Ohio on television and online.

Acton says she was removed from custody at age 12

Acton has said she and her brother were removed from their mother's custody when she was 12 after suffering sexual abuse by her stepfather, who was indicted on a rape charge but died before he could be prosecuted. She says she has not seen her mother since. Arthur disputes her daughter's account in the ad. The competing claims have turned a policy contest into a public re-litigation of the candidate's childhood trauma.

DeWine calls the spot wrong and urges it down

Republican Gov. Mike DeWine, whom Ramaswamy hopes to succeed, denounced the ad as deeply, deeply troubling. "It's wrong to run this ad," DeWine told reporters at the Statehouse in Columbus, urging the campaign to take it down even at this late stage. He added that his wife, Fran, had seen the ad on television that morning. DeWine, who has endorsed Ramaswamy, sided in this instance with Acton, a former member of his Cabinet. Other Republicans, including Sen. Jon Husted and Iowa Senate candidate Ashley Hinson, also called for the ad to come down, with Hinson calling it absolutely terrible to force Acton to relive that trauma.

Trump pleads ignorance, then demands the ad stay up

Asked about the ad outside the White House, Trump first asked reporters where it was running and suggested he knew nothing about it. A day later he posted a lengthy defense, calling it a very powerful ad and saying he had personally recommended that Ramaswamy keep it up. "The Press, in a concerted and well coordinated attack, is trying to get Vivek Ramaswamy to take down the Ad," he wrote, adding that "anybody whose mother spoke about a daughter in that way would normally" be disqualified from office. He praised Arthur's courage and branded Acton "Lyin' Amy," accusing her of lying about Ramaswamy for the entire campaign and calling the spot "hitting pay dirt."

DeWine gets the RINO treatment as Vance piles on

Trump used the same post to attack DeWine as a disloyal RINO governor who probably wants a Democrat to win, recalling that he had rallied for DeWine years ago when DeWine was trailing. Vice President JD Vance, a close friend of Ramaswamy who campaigned in Ohio this week, told fellow Republicans to stop whining about an advertisement and go win the race, noting voting was about 13 days away. "Politics is a tough business," Vance said, adding that whether the ad was appropriate was not really his concern. With the governor demanding removal and the president and vice president demanding defiance, the party split is now fully public.

Polls show Acton ahead in a seat held since 2010

The controversy lands with Acton leading in the polls. A Marist survey of 1,176 registered voters, conducted October 15 to 18, put her at 50 percent to Ramaswamy's 43 percent among likely voters, a 7-point lead with a margin of error of plus or minus 4.5 points; she led independents 53 percent to 34 percent. The Cook Political Report rates the race a toss-up while showing her ahead by about 5 points, Decision Desk HQ's average has her up roughly 4 points, and the Nate Silver average cited this week put her ahead by about 4.7 points. Republicans have held the Ohio governorship since 2010, so a loss here would sting well beyond Columbus.

A local ad becomes a national midterm test

Ramaswamy's campaign manager Jonathan Ewing called the ad a campaign-ending moment for Acton, and the campaign is holding to its $4 million buy. Democrats and even some Republicans warn the episode, coming on top of harsh rhetoric in Senate races elsewhere, risks alienating the independent voters both parties need with Election Day less than two weeks out. What began as one ad in one governor's race is now a measure of how much division Republican voters and donors will tolerate in the name of fighting hard.