Vice President JD Vance on Wednesday defended an ad featuring the estranged mother of the Democrat running for Ohio governor, Amy Acton, saying it “calls it out like it is, and calls Amy Acton a liar.”
In the ad from Vivek Ramaswamy, Dr. Acton’s Republican opponent, the mother said her daughter lied and exaggerated about her childhood struggles. The claims exploded after the Acton campaign produced records that show the mother’s husband, Dr. Acton’s stepfather, was charged with raping the candidate when she was 12.
Mr. Ramaswamy is putting $4 million behind the spot, despite widespread condemnation of it from Democrats and Republicans alike.
In the ad, Donna Arthur, Dr. Acton’s mother, accused her daughter of lying about details she has related about a troubled childhood in which she was homeless for a time. During that homeless period, Dr. Acton has said, she was sexually abused by her stepfather between the ages of 9 and 12. She and her mother have not spoken since.
Documents provided by the Acton campaign this week show that a grand jury indicted the candidate’s stepfather on charges of raping Dr. Acton when she was 12, that he pleaded not guilty and fled the state before trial. He died in Pennsylvania in 2004.
This week, Dr. Acton’s campaign decried the ad and quickly responded with one of its own, in which her brother says that she had for years been the victim of their stepfather’s physical and sexual abuse.
Mr. Vance, at a Wednesday morning campaign rally in the state, stood by Mr. Ramaswamy even as the backlash threatened to engulf the candidate’s campaign.
“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 told reporters. “So I would say to Ohio Republicans, do you actually think that Amy Acton is unfit to serve as governor of the state of Ohio? I do.”
The vice president went on to say he “wasn’t even supposed to talk about” the ad “controversy” but “couldn’t help myself.”
Angry reaction continued to build in both parties.
MK Pritzker, the wife of Illinois’ Democratic governor, JB Pritzker, announced that she would put half a million dollars behind Dr. Acton’s campaign, accusing Mr. Ramaswamy of exploiting “a highly qualified woman’s pain for political gain.”
The editorial board of The Columbus Dispatch announced its backing for Dr. Acton for governor on Wednesday morning, describing the ad in its endorsement as “revolting and unsettling.”
Casey Putsch, who ran against Mr. Ramaswamy from the hard right in the Republican primary, slammed the ad on social media and said that he would vote for Dr. Acton.
Mr. Ramaswamy and his campaign are “attacking Amy Acton over the abuse she endured as a child,” he said in a post on X. “These revolting and manipulative men show no care or genuine concern for people or Ohio and that is the reason I was called to run against Vivek in the primary.”
Megan McCain, the daughter of late Senator John McCain, a Republican, called the ad “dastardly.” Dan Hauser, a strategist for Senator Mike Lee, a Utah Republican, said he had deleted his repost of the ad when he learned of “the very serious accusations” that caused “the issues” between Dr. Acton and her mother.
Kathy Barnette, a conservative radio host who advised Mr. Ramaswamy’s presidential campaign, said she could vouch “100 percent” for his character and vision. At the same time, Ms. Barnette, who said her mother was raped at a young age, called the ad a “very personal thing” for her.
“It is a very fine line that the Ramaswamy campaign are walking in sharing this information,” she said. “They’re taking a huge bet.”
Did she think it was a bet worth taking? “No comment,” she said.
AdImpact, a political ad-watching firm, said Wednesday that the Ramaswamy campaign added $2.8 million in advertising reservations to the nearly $15 million already in place.
Mr. Ramaswamy’s campaign has defended the ad, with a spokeswoman saying on Tuesday that Dr. Acton was “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.”
On Tuesday night, after being heckled about the ad, Mr. Ramaswamy told reporters, “I would love for this race, this election, to be about the substantive issues that impact Ohioans. Unfortunately, Amy Acton has been hiding from those issues.”
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