Vance praises Ramaswamy for having 'audacity' to run controversial Acton ad

Vice President JD Vance, during a rally in Cincinnati on Wednesday, praised Ohio Republican gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy for having the "audacity" to cut a controversial ad featuring his Democratic opponent Amy Acton's estranged mother calling her daughter a "liar" -- a move that has sparked bipartisan backlash.

"Vivek Ramaswamy had the audacity to run a TV commercial which calls it out like it is and calls Amy Acton a liar," Vance said.

The ad, which circulated on social media late Monday, shows Acton's long-estranged mother, Donna Arthur, saying that she loves her daughter but that "Amy has a serious problem" and has lied about her past and her struggles growing up. The ad came nearly two weeks out from the high-stakes midterm elections where Ohio is home to not only a gubernatorial race, but also key Senate and House races that could determine the balance of power in Congress.

At a campaign event in Wyandot County on Wednesday, Acton called the ad "horrible and hideous."

“I think it was a horrible and hideous thing to do, a sad thing, and I feel like it was an exploitative thing to do," she said. "I think it's despicable, but it's exactly like he has been this entire campaign."

Ramaswamy, on Tuesday, confirmed his campaign had made the ad and said he wanted the race to be about "substantive issues," but that Acton had ducked accountability, debates and what he claimed were her own lies about him. Acton and other Democrats, as well as some Republicans, have excoriated Ramaswamy for the ad and for bringing up his opponent's childhood trauma.

Acton has been public about her experience with abuse and openly spoken about her tumultuous relationship with her mother, whom she says she has not spoken to since she was 12 years old. Acton alleged her mother's second husband molested her between the ages of 9 and 12. Charges were filed against her stepfather, and Acton testified against him.

Acton's campaign responded to the ad with one of its own in which her brother, Philip Stearns, criticized Ramaswamy for the ad and noted she had been the victim of abuse.

"Shame on Vivek,” Stearns said in the ad, adding, "It's the contempt he has for Amy. It's the contempt he has for Ohio. He's not fit to lead."

Acton's campaign released a statement on Tuesday from Stearns as well saying Ramaswamy "has stooped to such a despicable low as to attempt to turn the sexual abuse Amy endured at twelve years old from our birth mother's husband into a political talking point."

ABC News White House Correspondent Karen Travers asked President Donald Trump about the ad on Wednesday. The president said he knew "nothing about it," later adding that "it's a very unusual situation to have a mother hate a daughter that much, but I don't think that has anything to do with Vivek."

The vice president said he "wasn't even supposed to talk about" the ad -- which he called the "biggest controversy" -- but couldn't "help myself."

Vance said Wednesday that voters should "focus on the substance" rather than the controversy, turning to attack Acton over her role as Ohio’s health director during COVID. 

"And my message, ladies and gentlemen, is very simple: Whether -- whatever you think about any of the TV advertisements, focus on the substance and focus on the facts. And the fact is that Amy Acton was the woman who tried to mask your children."

Vance later said Acton "could never" be governor because she is "worried about whether somebody says something mean about" her.

"I think that a person who is more worried about whether somebody says something mean about them, that person -- that person could never serve in the governor's mansion of the great state of Ohio," Vance said.

ABC News has reached out to Acton's campaign for comment on Vance's comments.

Speaking ahead of Vance on Wednesday, Ramaswamy made no reference to the controversial ad. During his remarks, Ramaswamy did not mention Acton's name or even reference his opponent at all -- a contrast from how he often mentions her on the trail.

Sen. Jon Husted, who is in a toss-up race for reelection in the state, told the Associated Press after Wednesday's rally, " I would not have run that ad."