President Trump on Thursday praised a controversial ad from Ohio Republican gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy featuring his opponent’s estranged mother calling the Democratic candidate a liar.
The president was a rare public supporter of the ad, which features Donna Arthur accusing Democratic nominee Amy Acton of being dishonest and lying about alleged mistreatment during her childhood.
“Vivek Ramaswamy put up a very powerful Ad about a mother saying that her daughter, Amy Acton, who is running for Governor of Ohio, is a liar, and much worse. The Press, in a concerted and well coordinated attack, is trying to get Vivek Ramaswamy to ‘take down the Ad,’” Mr. Trump said on social media.
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The ad in question features Ms. Arthur denying Ms. Acton’s claim that “she overcame periods of abuse, hunger and neglect, and even wound up living in a tent in the middle of winter.”
Ms. Arthur says in the ad, “None of that is true. She’s lied her entire life. My daughter needs help, and she can’t help you if she needs help herself.”
Ms. Acton has said that her mother’s husband raped her when she was 12 and that she moved in with her father and lost contact with her mother.
Mr. Trump attacked Republican Gov. Mike DeWine for criticizing the ad, calling him a RINO, an acronym for Republican in name only.
The governor was one of many Republicans to call for the ad to be pulled.
“It’s wrong to run this ad,” Mr. DeWine told reporters earlier Thursday. “I would just urge the Ramaswamy campaign to take this down.”
Mr. Trump said of the governor, “He probably wants a Dumocrat to win, and certainly doesn’t want someone who will do a much better job than he is capable of doing.”
GOP Sen. John Husted of Ohio, who is running for reelection this year, said he “would not have run that ad.”
Republican former congressman Jim Renacci has also urged Mr. Ramaswamy to reverse course.
“Vivek Ramaswamy needs to pivot, and quickly,” said Mr. Renacci. “If he chooses to double down, I don’t see anything good coming from it.”
With the Nov. 3 election fast approaching, the Acton campaign is fundraising off the October surprise.
“We recently learned that Vivek Ramaswamy poured ANOTHER $5 million into his own campaign to help fill the airwaves with ugly and outright false attack ads. So this would have been the worst time to fall short,” said an Acton fundraising email sent Thursday.
Jeff Rusnak, a Democratic media consultant, said the ad was a poor attempt by Mr. Ramaswamy to gain ground in the race.
“I think they’re reading the polls the way everybody else is reading the polls and they are embarking on a scorched earth strategy. And when you run a scorched earth campaign, you get burned sometimes,” he said, adding it will “fire up Democrats and independents who were with Dr. Acton to begin with.”
Mr. Rusnak has worked with Ms. Acton in the past, but is not directly working for her campaign this year.
Meanwhile, the president was unequivocal in his support for the spot.
“The Press is trying to convince everyone that this Ad is bad, because it’s so good!” he said. “Who wouldn’t use such an Ad? I would, it’s called, ‘hitting pay dirt.’ The fact is, Lyin’ Amy Acton, who I’ve never even heard of before, has been lying about Vivek for the entire Campaign.”
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