Vice President JD Vance told Republicans to “stop whining” about Ohio gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy’s controversial ad featuring his Democratic opponent Amy Acton’s estranged mother.
“Politics is a tough business, and my message to my fellow elected Republicans is if you actually believe in the things you say you believe in, stop whining about an advertisement and go win the race in 13 days,” Vance told reporters on Wednesday in Cincinnati.
The Ohio Republican’s ad targeting his Acton exploded across the political landscape on Tuesday, sparking criticism from both sides of the aisle in the final stretch of the battleground gubernatorial race.
Ramaswamy’s ad features Acton’s estranged mother calling her daughter a “liar” and urging Ohioans not to vote for her. Acton previously recounted being sexually abused by her mother’s husband as a child, and Acton’s brother said on Tuesday that their “birth mother stayed married to Amy’s rapist until he died.”
Acton previously said in a 2019 interview with The Youngstown Vindicator that she had not seen her mother since a hearing in the 1978 court case against Acton’s stepfather.
Conservative commentator Meghan McCain said on X that the ad was “dastardly” and “never should have been created.” An aide for Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, deleted his post that shared the video. The aide, Dan Hauser, apologized and said he deleted his post “after researching it, and the disturbing allegations.”
Vance brushed off concerns about the ad, instead criticizing Republicans who condemned it. Speaking to reporters in Ohio on Wednesday, Vance said that “whether the ad was appropriate or not is not really my concern,” adding that he was focused on who would win the elections.
“I have to admit that I’m a little bit disgusted 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,” he said.
He also urged Republicans to “remember some of the ads that have been run against me” and other Republicans.
Vance brought up the ad in an Ohio rally Wednesday afternoon, though he said he “wasn’t even supposed to talk about” the controversy, “but I cannot help myself.”
“Now the media and the Democrats of the state of Ohio are obsessed, because guess what, Vivek Ramaswamy had the audacity to run a TV commercial which calls it out like it is and calls Amy Acton a liar.”
“My message, ladies and gentlemen, is very simple: Whatever you think about any of the TV advertisements, focus on the substance and focus on the facts,” he said, going on to criticize Acton.
Vance’s and Ramaswamy’s political circles have notable overlaps. NBC News previously reported that several members of Ramaswamy’s campaign previously worked on Vance’s political team.
Ramaswamy’s team is planning a $4 million statewide advertising push around the ad.
Acton’s brother, Philip Stearns, responded to the ad on Tuesday, slamming Ramaswamy.
“It’s not surprising that Vivek Ramaswamy has stooped to such a despicable low as to attempt to turn the sexual abuse Amy endured at 12 years old from our birth mother’s husband into a political talking point,” Stearns said.
Stearns said that he and his sister were removed from their mother and stepfather’s custody after their stepfather was arrested.
Attempts to reach Acton’s mother, Donna Arthur, by phone and email on Tuesday were unsuccessful.