Chris Hayes condemned a controversial attack ad targeting Ohio Democratic gubernatorial candidate Amy Acton on Tuesday, calling it “one of the most despicable things I’ve seen in politics” and accusing Republicans of resorting to personal attacks as the midterm elections get closer.
The ad features Acton’s estranged mother, Donna Arthur, calling her daughter a liar and urging voters not to elect her governor. Arthur disputes Acton’s accounts of her childhood, including her experience of homelessness.
“What neither she nor the makers of that ad mentioned is that that woman, Amy Acton’s birth mother, as Amy Acton calls her, has not spoken to her daughter since 1978,” Hayes said on Tuesday’s “All In With Chris Hayes.” “And that’s when she lost custody of her children, Acton and her brother, after years of documented abuse.”
You can watch the “All In” segment yourself in the video below.
Acton has said she was removed from her mother’s custody at age 12 after her stepfather was accused of sexually abusing her. Her brother, Phil Stearns, has also spoken publicly about the abuse they experienced as children.
Hayes argued that the ad was designed to make voters question Acton’s account of her past without providing the context of her family history.
The video initially circulated on social media without identifying who produced or paid for it. Donald Trump Jr. shared it online, writing, “Yikes, Ohio, watch this and think about what it means.”
Vivek Ramaswamy’s campaign had not initially identified itself as its producer, but a spokesperson defended the ad’s message, calling Acton a “serial fabulist” and saying voters needed to know about her alleged dishonesty.
Hayes also criticized the campaign for not initially disclosing the ad’s sponsor, noting that it had spread through right-wing social media accounts rather than appearing as a conventional television or digital campaign spot. He also noted how Ramaswamy’s campaign didn’t deny they were responsible.
“That ad is truly one of the most despicable things I’ve seen in politics,” Hayes said. “It’s also totally par for the course for today’s Republican Party.”
He continued adding that it all started at the top with President Donald Trump’s constant attacks on Democrats, journalists and women. “They are pounding on bigotry and the lies as their hopes of gaining votes dwindle with two weeks left,” he said.
“Can you freaking imagine?” Hayes added. “Truly the bottom of the barrel.”
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