Vivek Ramaswamy stands by terrible Amy Acton ad, but it’s backfiring

In the final stretch of Ohio’s race for governor, Republican Vivek Ramaswamy is still facing political backlash that turned his campaign’s biggest attack into its biggest liability.

Ramaswamy’s campaign released that now infamous ad featuring the estranged mother of his Democratic opponent, Amy Acton, calling her daughter a liar and disputing her allegations of sexual abuse as a child by her stepfather. And even with all the disgust many people have about his campaign stooping this low, Ramaswamy is still firmly standing by the decision .

RAMASWAMY: “The fact of the matter is I am running against somebody who is crazy, unstable and DISHONEST. … If they actually believe these are unfair attacks, you know what my opponent would be doing? She’d be agreeing to show up on a debate with me, as I agreed to on CNN and NBC!”

Acton has responded : “My opponent has chosen to exploit intentionally my childhood to save his struggling campaign but it’s not going to work.”

She’s right. The strategy is not working. Kalshi’s election odds have shifted in Acton’s favor and one of Ohio’s biggest newspapers, the Cleveland Plain Dealer, broke with its policy against endorsing candidates in statewide races to endorse Acton, because of Ramaswamy’s ad.

The newspaper’s editorial board said the ad went too far writing: “A candidate who uses childhood sexual abuse as a weapon against the person who endured it has crossed a line that Ohioans should defend, whatever their party.”

The board added that it could not “remain silent” given the stakes of the election.

Even Ohio’s current Republican governor, Mike DeWine, has condemned the ad as “deeply, deeply troubling” and “just plain wrong.” DeWine, who even endorsed Ramaswamy, urged him to pull it down.

That’s not all the local fallout — several Ohio venues are pulling out of hosting Republican campaign events for Ramaswamy.

According to The New York Times, his campaign has so far declined to back away from the ad and even went a step further in doubling down by recently purchasing more than $4 million in Ohio television airtime to run it.

That’s a significant investment in a strategy that risks keeping voters focused on his judgment instead of the policies he wants to put in place.

And the latest Fox News poll puts Acton ahead , 50 percent to 48 percent, among likely voters.

So, an ad that intended to redirect the campaign away from frustrations over President Trump’s economy and toward questions about Acton’s honesty instead, put Ramaswamy’s own ethics under a microscope for us all to see.

Political campaigns are supposed to be tough, but we have to draw a line between challenging an opponent’s record and weaponizing someone’s traumatic childhood.

It’s not too late — they can still take the ad down and apologize.

Lindsey Granger is a NewsNation contributor and co-host of The Hill’s commentary show “Rising.” This column is an edited transcription of her on-air commentary.