Vivek Ramaswamy, the Republican candidate for governor of Ohio, confirmed Thursday that his campaign is no longer airing an attack ad featuring the ex-mother of his Democratic opponent, Amy Acton.
The announcement sparked a wave of revulsion since Acton’s mother, Donna Arthur, lost custody of her daughter in 1978, when her second husband, Cledith Arthur, was accused of raping her daughter between the ages of 10 and 12.
Asked by a reporter in Vandalia, Ohio, whether his campaign had stopped running the ad, Ramaswamy said, “It went through to completion and we released four more ads.” »
“But what I will say is that despite all the talk about 30-second ads, I would like, even for this final close, for this campaign to really be about politics,” Ramaswamy added, before criticizing his opponent for not debating him.
Ramaswamy’s campaign announced last week that it would spend $4 million to air the ad, despite criticism from Democrats and Republicans after court records showed that Acton’s mother, who called her daughter a “liar,” fled the state with her husband when her daughter accused him of rape.
In an interview with the anti-abortion group Operation Rescue in 2020, when Acton was leading Ohio’s response to the Covid pandemic, Acton’s mother said she knew that before marrying him, Cledith Arthur had already been accused of raping her own daughter.
Ramaswamy’s reference to “30-second ads” was in reference to the length of the ad after his campaign edited the original 60-second version, to remove Acton’s mother’s allegation that her daughter had lied about the family living in a tent with Arthur when she was a child.
Court records from the time indicated that Cledith Arthur was indeed living in a tent at the time of her arrest for rape.
Donald Trump has defended the ad repeatedly, including at a rally with Ramaswamy on Wednesday, while refusing to acknowledge that the serious child rape allegations were relevant to Acton’s mother’s credibility.
Reports from NBC News and Zeteo suggest that Acton’s mother suffered from mental health issues and lived in her car with dozens of cats, which troubled some people involved in producing the Ramaswamy campaign ad.
“How far will Vivek Ramaswamy go? Acton’s campaign asked in a new ad about the controversy released earlier Thursday. “To become governor, he will defame his opponent for being raped by her stepfather when she was 10 years old – exploiting child sexual abuse and spending millions to lie to you about it,” the ad warns Ohio voters.
Acton also addressed Ramaswamy’s attack ad at an event Thursday. “If you didn’t know, you’ve probably all heard a little about my childhood,” she told her followers. “My brother and I went through a lot, a lot of abuse and a lot of neglect. We were in and out of child services frequently and ended up living in a tent in the middle of winter.”
“My opponent has now chosen to intentionally exploit my childhood,” she continued. “He’s doing it in a desperate attempt to save his ailing campaign. But I’ll tell you, Mr. Ramaswamy, it won’t work.”
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