An attack ad hailed as a “bombshell” by MAGA devotees backfired after the Democratic candidate it targeted revealed the disturbing truth behind it.
The heated Ohio gubernatorial race between Republican candidate Vivek Ramaswamy and Democratic nominee Amy Acton took a nasty twist after an ad featuring Acton’s estranged mother made the rounds online, forcing her traumatic childhood into the national conversation.
In the 60-second ad first obtained by The Rooster, Donna Arthur warns voters that her daughter has “a serious problem.”
“She is a liar. She lies about her past. She says she grew up living in a tent—none of that is true. She’s lied her entire life,” she said. “My daughter needs help, and she can’t help you if she needs help herself. People can change, but first they have to tell the truth, and my daughter still isn’t doing that.”
The ad concludes with Arthur saying, “Don’t vote for people who lie. Don’t let her become your governor. If you think she’ll make your life better, you’re fooling yourself. It will only get worse.”
It remains unclear who paid for the ad as it did not include the typical disclaimer at the end. Data from ad tracking firm AdImpact showed that the ad had not yet aired on TV as of Tuesday morning, according to Politico.
MAGAworld was quick to hype up the ad on X, with multiple pro-Trump accounts calling it a “bombshell” and a “huge surprise.”
But Acton’s campaign hit back with a damning statement from her brother Philip Stearns.
“It’s not surprising that Vivek Ramaswamy has stooped to such a despicable low as to attempt to turn the sexual abuse Amy endured at twelve years old from our birth mother’s husband into a political talking point,” he said.
“After he was arrested and Amy and I were removed from their custody, our birth mother stayed married to Amy’s rapist until he died,” Stearns added. “This desperate, disgusting attack reveals exactly who Vivek Ramaswamy is at his core - a pathetic excuse for a man who is willing to hurt anyone as long as it gets him what he wants.”
Ramaswamy’s campaign put up an unfazed front in response to the backlash.
“We don’t know what happened between Amy and her mother, who first spoke out about Amy in 2020, but we know that Amy Acton is a serial fabulist who has some serious problems with the truth that the public needs to be aware of before deciding who to entrust as governor,” spokesperson Connie Luck said in a statement.
In a 2019 interview with The Vindicator, Acton said she was sexually abused from age 9 to 12. Her biological father made a report to the police, and in 1978, Acton’s stepfather was charged with rape and indicted by a grand jury, according to The New York Times. He pleaded not guilty.
Acton previously said in a video for the Democratic Governors Association that she had “a pretty rough childhood” in Youngstown.
“A lot of abuse and neglect,” she said. “I was even homeless in the middle of winter. I was finally removed from that situation when I was 12. My life got so much better. I was able to get a good education and work three jobs and go to med school.”
After Acton’s brother spoke out, prominent MAGA voices were split.
Meghan McCain blasted the “dastardly” ad.
“It never should have been created. Shame on whatever consultant firm created this,” she wrote on X.
Laura Loomer, meanwhile, stayed defiant and even mockingly said she was “on the side of Amy’s mother” because “Amy’s mother is a woman and the Democrats told us that we need to believe all women.”
“The GOP is full of losers who hate winning. Now they are running defense for Amy Acton,” she argued. “If you live in Ohio, get out and vote for @VivekGRamaswamy!”
