Vivek Ramaswamy’s campaign for Ohio governor appears to be stumbling to the finish line after a series of setbacks — including the loss of a major endorsement and venue cancellations — amid mounting fallout from the MAGA Republican’s controversial attack ad.
The 30-second ad, released last week, features Democratic candidate Dr. Amy Acton’s mother calling her daughter a “liar” and urging Ohio residents not to vote for her.
The spot has drawn intense bipartisan backlash, with critics condemning the campaign’s use of Acton’s estranged mother, Donna Arthur. Acton has not spoken to Arthur in decades. Arthur lost custody of her children after her husband was indicted on a charge of raping Acton. He was never prosecuted on that charge before he died, after the couple fled the state.
Ramaswamy has defended the ad as “legitimate,” and President Donald Trump has rallied to his defense. The controversy comes as polls show a tight race with less than two weeks until Election Day.
On Sunday, The Plain Dealer, Ohio’s largest newspaper, broke with its policy against endorsing candidates in major races to back Acton for governor.
“Vivek Ramaswamy, seeking the highest office in this state, has produced a campaign advertisement that weaponizes the sexual abuse his opponent, Amy Acton, suffered as a child,” the paper’s editorial board wrote.
“There are moments when a community must decide what it stands for, when its institutions have a duty to speak and when silence itself becomes a statement,” it added.
Several Ohio venues have also scrapped plans to host Ramaswamy in recent days, according to Newsweek.
On Friday, Old Dog Ale House & Brewery in Delaware canceled an event scheduled to feature him. Elliot’s Wood Fired Kitchen in Newark also said it would not host his planned Tuesday appearance. The Ohio Republican Party has indicated it plans to reschedule both appearances.
The Independent has contacted Ramaswamy’s campaign for comment.
Several Republicans, including Ohio Governor Mike DeWine, have denounced the ad and called for it to be taken down.
Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, who competed against Ramaswamy in the 2024 Republican presidential primaries and served as Trump’s ambassador to the UN in his first term, called him “a bad guy,” and added: “It's a shame he continues to get away with it.”
Numerous Democrats, including Acton, have also forcefully condemned the ad.
“I won't normalize somebody who has said that my childhood is just something I'm complaining about, who today just released an ad using my birth mother, who I was removed from at the age of 12 for severe abuse and neglect, and sexual abuse," she told a local news outlet last week.
Trump, however, praised the video as “very powerful” in a Truth Social post on Tuesday, attacking both the media’s coverage and Republicans who opposed the ad.
“The Press, in a concerted and well coordinated attack, is trying to get Vivek Ramaswamy to ‘take down the Ad,’” Trump wrote. “Frankly, anybody whose mother spoke about a daughter in that way would normally lead to the daughter being precluded from serving in Office, let alone the Office of Governor.”
Ramaswamy has acknowledged that his campaign released the ad, which went viral on social media, and defended it as legitimate.
“It is an ad from our campaign, and the thing that I want to say is that 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,” he told reporters last week. On Monday, he called Acton “crazy, unstable and dishonest.”
This article originally appeared on The Independent at https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/vivek-ramaswamy-endorsement-ohio-venues-cancel-amy-acton-ad-b3073505.html