Ohio gubernatorial race: Vivek Ramaswamy defends controversial ad, accuses Democratic rival of ‘lying’

Vivek Ramaswamy, the Republican candidate in Ohio’s gubernatorial race, on Friday (local time) defended his campaign’s advertisement featuring the estranged mother of his Democratic rival, Amy Acton, accusing Acton’s team of “lying about an ad that is about lying.”Speaking at a campaign event in northeast Ohio, Ramaswamy remarked that the advertisement, which features Acton’s mother calling her “a liar,” had no connection to childhood abuse. Acton, 60, has repeatedly stated that she was sexually abused by her late stepfather during her childhood.Also Read: Vivek Ramaswamy goes low in Ohio's race to the bottom“The irony is that they’re lying about an ad that is about lying. They’re changing the subject because they don’t want to answer for their own failures,” Ramaswamy said, referring to Acton and her campaign team.The controversial advertisement features Donna Arthur, Acton’s biological mother, accusing the Democratic candidate of "lying" about being sexually abused and urging voters not to elect her governor. The ad also challenges Acton’s account of childhood homelessness and abuse but does not explain the family history underlying their estrangement.Acton, a former Ohio public health director, has publicly spoken about experiencing homelessness and abuse during her childhood. Her brother, Philip Stearns, has also backed her account.Also Read: Trump and Vance back Ramaswamy despite campaign fiasco that could damage GOP beyond OhioShe has previously condemned Ramaswamy over the advertisement, telling Spectrum News, an Ohio-based cable news outlet: “I won’t normalise somebody who has said that my childhood is just something I’m complaining about.”Arthur lost custody of her children after her husband, Cledith Arthur, Amy and Philip's stepfather, was indicted on charges of raping Acton.According to police and court documents obtained by The Associated Press, Cledith Arthur was arrested and charged with raping Acton, then 12, in July 1978, after her biological father reported him to authorities. The alleged abuse took place between December 1976 and April 1978.Cledith Arthur pleaded not guilty and was indicted by a grand jury in September 1978. However, he failed to appear at a court hearing and remained a fugitive until at least 1981. He has since died.You use AI every day. Now get your AI Quotient. Take the AIQ test.