Trump on controversial Acton ad: ‘Why would you shield somebody from that?’

President Trump reiterated his support for Ohio gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramswamy’s (R) controversial ad that recently aired featuring Democratic opponent Amy Acton’s mother calling her a “liar.”

“Why would you shield somebody from that?” Trump asked his supporters at a rally in Sioux City, Iowa Thursday night.

The president said Ramaswamy had reached out to him to ask for his advice on whether to keep his ad up after it received backlash from both sides of the aisle, most recently from Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R).

“I said, ‘Let’s say that my mother said bad about me. ‘Donald Trump is a liar. He’s a horrible person and a liar,’ and my opponent put it up. Tim, what are the chances that the news would demand that it be removed?” Trump said, likely referring to Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), the chairman of the Senate Republicans’ campaign arm. “He says zero.”

“The mother is calling the daughter a terrible person and a liar. Everybody should be so lucky. Why would you shield somebody from that?” the president added. “Why would — why would we do that? So I told him, ‘Leave it up, and look upstairs and say ‘Thank you, God, very much. I appreciate it.’’”

The Hill has reached out to Ramaswamy’s campaign for comment regarding the president’s remarks.

Trump voiced support for the ad earlier on Thursday, encouraging Ramaswamy to “keep it up” in a Truth Social post.

The president is in Iowa as he looks to boost Senate Republican candidate Rep. Ashley Hinson and GOP gubernatorial nominee Zahn Lahn, who are both locked in tight races less than two weeks out from the midterms.

Ramaswamy and Acton are running to replace DeWine, with Decision Desk HQ (DDHQ), a partner of The Hill, forecasting a 61 percent probability that the Democrat wins the election next month.

Ramaswamy’s campaign started airing an ad that features Acton’s estranged mother, Donna Arthur, in which she alleges that her daughter is dishonest and urges voters not to support her.

Acton and Arthur have not seen each other in decades after Acton alleged that her stepfather abused her, with her stepfather later facing charges. He pleaded not guilty, according to court and police documents obtained by The Associated Press but was later indicted months later by a grand jury.

Acton’s brother, Phil Stearns, said that Arthur lost custody of the two of them afterward, and that Arthur remained married to their stepfather until his death.

Stearns slammed the ad in a statement issued through Acton’s campaign, saying “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.”

DeWine and former Gov. John Kasich (R) both called on the Ohio GOP gubernatorial candidate to take down the ad.

“The ad is deeply, deeply troubling,” DeWine told reporters earlier on Thursday, according to The Statehouse News Bureau. “But when you know the rest of the story, when you know the back story, when you know that the husband of the mom was indicted by a grand jury after hearing testimony and that he took off along with the mother, and that the two children never saw the mother after that. When you know that it, just to me, makes it more serious. It makes it just more wrong.”