Republican Vivek Ramaswamy on Friday defended his campaign ad featuring his Democratic rival’s ex-mother, Dr. Amy Acton, in the closely watched race for Ohio governor.
Speaking at a campaign stop in northeast Ohio, he said the ad, in which Acton’s mother called her a “liar,” had nothing to do with childhood abuse.
“The irony is that they are lying about an ad that is about lying,” Ramaswamy said. “They change the subject because they don’t want to answer for their own failures.”
The ad features Acton’s biological mother, Donna Arthur, criticizing her and insinuating that she has mental health issues. Arthur lost custody of her children after her husband, the children’s stepfather, was charged with raping Acton.
WATCH: Trump defends Ramaswamy attack ad against Acton amid bipartisan criticism
Acton is Ohio’s former public health director and has made no secret of facing homelessness and abuse as a child. She condemned Ramaswamy for the publicity.
“I will not normalize someone who said my childhood was just something I complained about,” she told Spectrum News, an Ohio cable news outlet.
A message seeking comment was sent Friday about his campaign.
The ad sparked significant backlash, including from President Donald Trump, who said it amounted to “touching the pot.”
At a campaign rally in Iowa on Thursday, Trump told the crowd that Ramaswamy called him for advice.
“You have to deal with it,” Trump recalled telling Ramaswamy, a biotech billionaire and former presidential candidate. Trump expressed jealousy that he did not have such a strong ad to run during his own campaigns.
WATCH: Democratic and Republican strategists on deeply personal attack advertising in Ohio
Other Republicans were critical.
Ohio Governor Mike DeWine criticized Ramaswamy and said the ad should be removed.
“It’s wrong to run this ad,” DeWine said Thursday.
According to police and court documents obtained by The Associated Press, Cledith Arthur was arrested and charged with raping her stepdaughter, then 12, in July 1978, after Acton’s biological father reported him to authorities. The abuse allegedly occurred from December 1976 to April 1978.
Cledith Arthur has pleaded not guilty. He was indicted by a grand jury in September, but failed to appear at a court hearing and remained on the run until at least 1981. He has since died.
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