A number of prominent Republicans have spoken out both in support of, and against, a controversial campaign advert produced by Ohio GOP gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, which features the estranged mother of his Democratic rival Amy Acton accusing her of having told “lies about her past.”
On Thursday President Trump urged Ramaswamy to continue using the advert in a post on his Truth Social website, describing it as “a very powerful Ad” and describing Ohio Republican Governor Mike DeWine, who said it was “deeply, deeply troubling,” as a “RINO [Republican in name only].”
The dispute highlights the disagreement within the GOP over what constitutes acceptable election tactics primarily between supporters of Trump’s MAGA [Make America Great Again] movement, and some more traditional Republicans.
Newsweek contacted the Ramaswamy and Acton campaigns for comment via email on Friday outside of regular office hours.
The Campaign Advert
Ramaswamy’s campaign advert features Donna Arthur, Acton’s estranged mother, talking about her daughter.
In the approximately one-minute video Arthur says: “I love my daughter, but when I saw her lying about her opponent, and it's not easy for a mother to say this, but Amy has a serious problem. She is a liar, she lies about her past.”
Arthur said her daughter “says she grew up living in a tent–none of that is true.”
She continues, “my daughter needs help" before concluding “Don't vote for people who lie. Don't let her become your governor.”
The allegations made by Arthur in the advert have not been independently verified.
During a 2019 interview with the Youngstown Vindicator, Acton said she had lived in “18 or so” homes during the first 12 years of her life and at one point spent a winter living in a tent at a campground near Youngstown.
...
Acton has previously said she was sexually abused by her stepfather as a child and removed from her mother’s custody at age 12. This account has been supported by Acton’s brother Philip Stearns.
The Associated Press reported Acton’s stepfather was charged with raping her when she was 12. He was indicted by a grand jury in 1979 but failed to attend the subsequent court hearing and was a fugitive until at least 1981. He died in 2004.
In a statement posted on Facebook Acton said: “Between the ages of 10 and 12, I was sexually abused by her husband, while my birth mother did nothing to protect me.” https://www.axios.com/2026/10/21/ramaswamy-ad-acton-mother-ohio
She added: “I've always known that she was deeply sick and unwell, and it's sad to see Vivek Ramaswamy exploit her all for his own political gain.”
Ramaswamy campaign spokesperson Connie Luck said: “We don't know what happened between Amy and her mother, who first spoke out about Amy in 2020, but we know that Amy Acton is a serial fabulist who has some serious problems with the truth that the public needs to be aware of before deciding who to entrust as governor.”
The advert has proven controversial within the Republican Party with senior figures both criticizing and supporting it, as outlined below:
Governor Mike DeWine
Speaking to reporters, including from the Statehouse News Bureau which covers state politics, on Thursday Ohio’s outgoing Republican Governor DeWine described the advert as “deeply, deeply troubling.”
He added: “But when you know the rest of the story, when you know the back story, when you know that the husband of the mom was indicted by a grand jury after hearing testimony and that he took off along with the mother, and that the two children never saw the mother after that. When you know that it, just to me, makes it more serious. It makes it just more wrong.”
DeWine continued: “It's wrong to run this ad. I would just urge the Ramaswamy campaign to take this down. It's just wrong.” However, DeWine said he was still endorsing the whole Republican ticket, including Ramaswamy.
Representative Ashley Hinson
Speaking to ABC News on Thursday Rep. Ashley Hinson, a Republican Iowa Senate candidate, described the advert as “terrible” adding: “I think about it as a mom and you think about your kids surviving childhood sexual abuse and having to relive that trauma on TV again. I think it's absolutely terrible, and I think they should take the ad down.”
When asked about Vice-President J.D. Vance defending the advert she said: “It's ridiculous. It's absolutely the wrong tone. It sends absolutely the wrong message.
“Iowans want, and probably Ohioans want, someone who's going to be an empathetic leader, and I think it sends absolutely the wrong message.
“And I would bet that Amy Acton and I probably don't agree on anything, either. But like the last thing I would want as someone who's running against is to force them to relive the childhood trauma. So, I think, again, I think it's wrong, and it should come down.”
Senator Jon Husted
In a statement provided to The Associated Press, Senator Jon Husted, who filled the Senate seat left vacant by Vance and is running for election in November, said he “would not have run” the advert.
Jim Renacci
In an X post Republican Jim Renacci, who served as an Ohio representative in the House from 2011 to 2019, said: “For those who follow the daily polls and political trends, the floor may have just fallen out from under the Republican campaign for Ohio Governor. And any Republican who fails to distance themselves from this ad risks taking on water as well.”
Nikki Haley
Former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley, who ran against Ramaswamy in the 2024 Republican presidential primary, responded to the campaign advert on social media.
Referring to Ramaswamy she said: “I'm just seeing what we tried to tell everyone back then. He's a bad guy. It's a shame he continues to get away with it.”
Meghan McCain
On X Meghan McCain, conservative commentator and daughter of former Senator John McCain, said: “This is a dastardly ad. It never should have been created. Shame on whatever consultant firm created this.”
President Trump
In a Truth Social post on Thursday Trump praised what he called the “very powerful ad” and accused the press of “trying to convince everyone that this Ad is bad, because it's so good!”
When asked about the advert later by reporters he added: “I’m defending it because I know that if that ad was about my mother you would love it, you would love every inch of it. And what’s happened is the press has teamed up because he’s a Republican and they’ve tried to make it like it’s a horrible thing. This is a mother saying very bad things about her daughter and I don’t know why that should be shielded.”
Vice-President Vance
Speaking at a campaign rally in Cincinnati on Wednesday Vance praised Ramaswamy for having “the audacity to run a TV commercial which calls it out like it is and calls Amy Acton a liar.”
He later told reporters: “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.”
Laura Loomer
Conservative activist Laura Loomer defended Ramaswamy advert and hit out at its GOP critics.
On X she wrote: “Seriously screw every Republican who is attacking @VivekGRamaswamy over this ad by Amy Acton’s @amyactonoh own mother calling Amy out for being a liar.”
Contact Newsweek editor on this story: Edward Pearcey.