Vice President Vance's call for fellow Republicans to "stop whining" about Vivek Ramaswamy's controversial attack ad in Ohio's race for governor showed a key part of his political mindset ahead of his expected run for president in 2028: Never back down.
Why it matters: Channeling President Trump, Vance has shown contempt for what he sees as the old-guard GOP's reflex to cave under pressure from Democrats and the media.
- He thinks too many Republicans sacrifice allies to make controversies go away, and that giving critics a political scalp only encourages them to demand another, according to people familiar with his thinking.
- It's an approach with some risk — namely whether Vance, entering a critical period in his political career, has the political muscle to get away with Trump's no-apologies approach.
Driving the news: Vance on Wednesday defended Ramaswamy amid bipartisan outrage over an ad featuring the estranged mother of Ramaswamy's Democratic opponent, Amy Acton.
- In the deeply personal ad, Acton's mother calls her daughter a liar, and says Ohioans shouldn't vote for her for governor.
- Not mentioned in the ad: Acton and her brother were removed from the mother's care as children after Acton accused her stepfather of sexual abuse. Her mother sided with the stepfather, leading to an estrangement that has lasted nearly 50 years.
Appearing at a campaign stop for Ramaswamy in Ohio, Vance showed little concern about the criticism over the ad.
- Vance said he was "disgusted" by fellow Republicans criticizing it, telling them to "stop whining."
- Asked whether the ad was appropriate, Vance said it was "not really my concern," and that politics is tough.
The other side: The backlash has included Republicans and Democrats who believe the ad crossed a moral line by exploiting Acton's traumatic childhood.
- "I would not have run that ad," Ohio Sen. Jon Husted, who appeared alongside Vance and Ramaswamy at a campaign rally Wednesday, told the AP.
- Former UN ambassador Nikki Haley called Ramaswamy "a bad guy," adding: "It's a shame he continues to get away with it."
Acton told CNN that she hopes her story of recovering from abuse inspires others, and that she "was not stunned" at "the antics of an out-of-touch billionaire," referring to Ramaswamy.
Behind the scenes: Vance's refusal to denounce allies dates to his 2022 Senate campaign in Ohio.
- During a March 2022 debate, Vance refused to condemn then-Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) for appearing at a rally organized by white nationalist Nick Fuentes. "She is my friend, and she did nothing wrong ... I'm absolutely not gonna throw her under the bus," Vance said then.
- In the final days of Ohio's 2024 Senate primary, Vance aggressively defended GOP candidate Bernie Moreno amid a controversy over an adult dating website account linked to Moreno's work email.
As vice president, Vance has refused to disavow his friend Tucker Carlson amid accusations of antisemitism — even as Carlson's relationship with Trump was fracturing.
- After racist and antisemitic messages surfaced in a leaked Young Republicans group chat, Vance declared on X that he wouldn't join the "pearl clutching."
- During a December 2025 speech at a Turning Point USA event, Vance rejected political "purity tests," declaring: "I didn't bring a list of conservatives to denounce or to de-platform."
What they're saying: "There is nothing JD has more personal disdain for than weak Republicans who reflexively kowtow every time the Dem-media demands a scalp," a source close to Vance told Axios.
- "It drives him crazy to see the cucked reaction from some establishment operatives and politicians in the GOP, who he views as nothing more than useful idiots for the left."
The intrigue: Some Republicans see Vance as influenced by Trump and Vance's mentor, tech billionaire Peter Thiel, who has embraced a similar no-apologies mantra.
- "The president's refusal to kowtow to the left is one of the things JD admires most" about Trump, the Vance source said.