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DeWine Demands Ramaswamy Pull $4M Ad Featuring Amy Acton's Mother
Read the full articleOhio Gov. Mike DeWine publicly broke with his party's nominee, demanding Vivek Ramaswamy pull a $4 million attack ad featuring Dr. Amy Acton's estranged mother. The move defies Vice President JD Vance, who urged Republicans to stop whining about the commercial.
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Ohio governor calls for Ramaswamy to pull ad featuring Acton's mother
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Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine on Thursday called for Republican gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy to pull a campaign ad featuring Democrat Amy Acton's estranged mother.
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Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine on Thursday called for Republican gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy to pull an ad featuring Democrat Amy Acton's estranged mother.
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At a gathering with reporters at the Statehouse in Columbus, DeWine called the ad “deeply, deeply troubling.”
“It’s wrong to run this ad,” DeWine said.
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“It’s wrong to run this ad,” he said. “I would urge Ramaswamy’s campaign to take this down.”
Ramaswamy has taken responsibility for the 60-second video and is spending $4 million to broadcast it online and on TV.
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The biotech entrepreneur and 2024 presidential candidate has taken responsibility for the 60-second video, which has drawn bipartisan rebukes, and is spending $4 million to broadcast it online and on TV.
Ramaswamy told reporters late Tuesday that he would love for this race and this election to be about the substantive issues that impact Ohioans, but that “Amy Acton has been hiding from those issues” and she will not debate him.
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“It is an ad from our campaign. And the thing that I want to say is that I would love for this race and this election to be about the substantive issues that impact Ohioans. And unfortunately, Amy Acton has been hiding from those issues. She won’t debate me,” Ramaswamy told reporters late Tuesday.
Vice President JD Vance said Wednesday it was “not really my concern” whether the ad was appropriate, saying he is focused on supporting Republican candidates in midterm races.
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Vice President JD Vance said Wednesday it was “not really my concern” whether the ad was appropriate and said he’s focused on supporting Republican candidates in midterm races.
Vance told reporters he felt “a little bit disgusted” when watching Republicans complain about the commercial rather than confronting Democratic policies.
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“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,” Vance said in his first public comments on the ad.
DeWine’s intervention highlighted his continuing defense of a former member of his Cabinet over his party's chosen nominee.
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Republican Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine on Thursday denounced a controversial ad featuring the estranged mother of Dr. Amy Acton, taking sides with the Democratic candidate for governor and former member of his Cabinet over her Republican rival, Vivek Ramaswamy.
U.S. Sen. Jon Husted told The Associated Press in a statement, “I would not have run that ad,” after his Democratic challenger, former Sen. Sherrod Brown, called the spot disgusting and urged officials to denounce it.
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“I would not have run that ad,” U.S. Sen. Jon Husted said in a statement to The Associated Press. A day earlier, his Democratic opponent, former Sen. Sherrod Brown, called the spot “disgusting” and said everybody — including Husted — should denounce it.
In the commercial, Acton’s birth mother, Donna Arthur, calls her daughter a liar and urges Ohioans not to vote for her, insinuating that the Democratic candidate has mental health issues.
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In the video which only appeared on social media, Acton’s birth mother Donna Arthur calls her daughter a liar and urges Ohioans not to vote for her, insinuating she has mental health issues.
Acton and her mother have been estranged since 1978, after Acton's stepfather was charged with raping her and Acton and her brother Philip went to live with her biological father.
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Acton and her mother been estranged since 1978, after Amy’s step dad was charged with raping her.Shortly after that, Amy and her brother Philip went to live with her biological father.
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“Politics is a tough business, and my message to my fellow elected Republicans is if you actually believe in the things you say you believe in, stop whining about an advertisement and go win the race in 13 days,” Vance told reporters on Wednesday in Cincinnati.
At an Ohio rally Wednesday afternoon, Vance brought up the commercial and urged attendees to focus on the substance and focus on the facts.
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Vance brought up the ad in an Ohio rally Wednesday afternoon, though he said he “wasn’t even supposed to talk about” the controversy, “but I cannot help myself.”“Now the media and the Democrats of the state of Ohio are obsessed, because guess what, Vivek Ramaswamy had the audacity to run a TV commercial which calls it out like it is and calls Amy Acton a liar.”“My message, ladies and gentlemen, is very simple: Whatever you think about any of the TV advertisements, focus on the substance and focus on the facts,” he said, going on to criticize Acton.
Vance and Ramaswamy share close political ties, with NBC News previously reporting that several members of Ramaswamy’s campaign staff had previously worked on Vance’s political team.
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Vance’s and Ramaswamy’s political circles have notable overlaps. NBC News previously reported that several members of Ramaswamy’s campaign previously worked on Vance’s political team.
Uncredited Online Ad Uses Amy Acton's Estranged Mother in Ohio Governor Race
Supporting evidence (1)
Previously, an uncredited online ad uses Amy Acton's estranged mother in the Ohio governor race, while JD Vance tells Republicans to stop whining about Ramaswamy ad targeting Acton.
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Uncredited Online Ad Uses Amy Acton's Estranged Mother in Ohio Governor Race
JD Vance Tells Republicans to Stop Whining About Ramaswamy Ad Targeting Acton
Supporting evidence (1)
Previously, an uncredited online ad uses Amy Acton's estranged mother in the Ohio governor race, while JD Vance tells Republicans to stop whining about Ramaswamy ad targeting Acton.
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JD Vance Tells Republicans to Stop Whining About Ramaswamy Ad Targeting Acton
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In an interview with Spectrum News, Acton said she would not normalize an opponent who released an ad using her birth mother, from whom she was removed at age 12 for severe abuse, neglect, and sexual abuse.
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“I won’t normalize somebody who has said that my childhood is just something I’m complaining about, who today just released an ad using my birth mother, who I was removed from at the age of 12 for severe abuse and neglect, and sexual abuse," she told Spectrum News, a cable news outlet in Ohio.
In a campaign statement, spokeswoman Connie Luck said Acton has serious problems with the truth that the public needs to be aware of.
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In the statement, campaign spokeswoman Connie Luck said Acton “has some serious problems with the truth that the public needs to be aware of.”
According to police and court records obtained by The Associated Press, Acton's stepfather, Cledith Arthur, was arrested and charged with child rape in July 1978 after Acton's biological father reported his conduct to authorities.
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According to police and court documents obtained by The Associated Press, Cledith Arthur was arrested and charged with the rape of his stepdaughter, then 12, in July 1978, after Acton's biological father reported his alleged conduct to authorities.
Cledith Arthur pleaded not guilty and was indicted by a grand jury in September 1978, but he failed to appear in court and remained a fugitive until at least 1981 before eventually dying.
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Cledith Arthur pleaded not guilty. He was indicted by a grand jury that September, but failed to show at a court hearing and remained a fugitive until at least 1981. He has since died.
Stearns accused Ramaswamy of being behind the ad, saying the Republican had stooped “to such a despicable low as to attempt to turn the sexual abuse Amy endured at 12 years old from our birth mother’s husband into a political talking point.”
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Stearns accused Ramaswamy of being behind the ad, saying the Republican had stooped "to such a despicable low as to attempt to turn the sexual abuse Amy endured at 12 years old from our birth mother’s husband into a political talking point.”