COLUMBUS, Ohio — Republican candidate for governor Vivek Ramaswamy has taken responsibility for a controversial ad in which Democratic opponent Dr. Amy Acton's estranged mother calls her daughter a liar. Court documents show Acton's stepfather was arrested for raping her as a child, and her biological mom lost custody.
Bipartisan backlash erupted Tuesday once the ad featuring Donna Arthur, Acton's birth mother, circulated on social media. In the piece, Arthur repeatedly calls her daughter a liar, saying she "lies about her past."
WATCH RELATED: Democrat Amy Acton’s estranged mother calls her liar in ad; court documents say otherwise
Acton hasn’t had contact with her mother since leaving the courthouse once her stepfather was charged with raping her, the candidate said.
Mahoning County Court records we obtained show that Cledith Arthur was arrested and charged with sexually abusing Acton, who was 12 years old at the time. The abuse went from ages 10 to 12, she said. Her mother lost custody, and after pleading not guilty, documents show the stepfather posted bond and fled, becoming a fugitive of the state until his death in 2004.
At first, the Ramaswamy team did not take explicit responsibility for the ad, but did say that "Ohioans deserve to know" that Acton's mother doesn't support her.
Several hours later at a town hall event Tuesday evening, Ramaswamy confirmed to reporters that it was his ad, defending it amid the mass outrage.
"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," Ramaswamy said when asked why he would put the ad up. "She won't debate me."
He accuses her of lying about him during the campaign.
"That's why I want to debate, to be able to defend my record and to be able to defend my actual positions," he continued. "And if she believes that any criticisms of her are unfair or inaccurate, she would want to do the same thing."
He claims that the ad isn't "petty" because he is highlighting a part of a "pattern" of how the "people who are closest to her" are telling voters not to elect her, he said.
This ad has been labeled "vile," "grotesque" and "atrocious" by both Democrats and Republicans online and in interviews with us.
"I think it was a terrible thing to do this to someone who is not well, as my birth mother isn't," Acton told our news partner WSYX-TV in a sit-down interview Tuesday. "I know my opponent will stoop to anything to get ahead."
Acton has previously talked extensively about how she feels Ramaswamy has degraded her for what she has gone through.
"My opponent has said that I, someone who experienced child abuse and neglect, was a frequent flyer in children's services, that I'm just 'complaining about something done to me' in my childhood," Acton said, quoting Ramaswamy's previous statement.
Her team sent a follow-up statement Wednesday morning on the fact that Ramaswamy is still promoting the ad.
“Vivek Ramaswamy investing $4 million to run a repulsive advertisement that gives star billing to Dr. Acton’s abusive mother is both despicable and entirely predictable from a scam artist who has spent this campaign standing alongside abusers and sex predators,” Acton spokesperson Addie Bullock said. “Ramaswamy is showing Ohio exactly who he is — a self-serving billionaire who will do or say anything for his own gain, no matter who he harms along the way. The stakes of this race have never been higher and the contrast has never been clearer: Vivek Ramaswamy is totally unfit to lead Ohio.”
Follow Statehouse and Columbus bureau reporter Morgan Trau on X, Instagram and Facebook. Email her at Morgan.Trau@wews.com.
