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President Donald Trump on Thursday defended a controversial ad by the campaign of Vivek Ramaswamy featuring the estranged mother of Amy Acton, his Democratic opponent in the Ohio gubernatorial race, calling Acton a liar. Trump's defense of the ad came after widespread bipartisan backlash to it, which focused on the fact that Acton's stepfather, Cledith Arthur, was charged with raping her when she was a child and was married to Acton's mother, Donna Arthur. In the ad, Donna Arthur says Acton has "lied her entire life." "Don't vote for people who lie," Arthur says in the ad. "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." Acton has said she has not seen Arthur since she was 12 years old. Cledith Arthur fled after his arrest and remained a fugitive until his death in Pennsylvania in 2004. Trump, in a Truth Social post on Thursday, said, "Vivek Ramaswamy put up a very powerful Ad about a mother saying that her daughter, Amy Acton, who is running for Governor of Ohio, is a liar, and much worse." "The Press, in a concerted and well coordinated attack, is trying to get Vivek Ramaswamy to 'take down the Ad,' " Trump said. "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." Trump also criticized Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine for calling for the ad to be taken down, even as DeWine continued to support his fellow Republican Ramaswamy's candidacy to succeed him. "The ad, on its face, is deeply, deeply troubling," DeWine said in a press conference earlier Thursday. Trump said DeWine "probably wants a Dumocrat to win, and certainly doesn't want someone who will do a much better job than he is capable of doing." "I suggested, on the other hand, that Vivek should keep it up, and let everyone listen to the mother of a defective, dishonest, and incapable Candidate, explain how the daughter is a DISASTER who, uncontrollably, lies, cheats, and steals!" Trump said. Trump later told reporters that he had "no idea" about Acton's allegation of being raped by her mother's husband, and questioned when Acton had made that claim. Trump's comments came a day after his vice president, JD Vance, during a visit to Cincinnati and said it was "not really my concern" whether the ad was appropriate. But Vance also said, "I'm a little bit disgusted when I see Republicans across the country who are whining more about that advertisement than they are about what the congressional Democrats and other Democrats want to do to the United States of America." "The media and the Democrats in the state of Ohio are obsessed because guess what? Vivek Ramaswamy had the audacity to run a TV commercial which calls it out like it is and calls Amy Acton a liar," Vance said. "Whatever you think about any of the TV advertisements, focus on the substance and focus on the facts." Ramaswamy's campaign has spent nearly $95,000 to air the ad so far, according to AdImpact, with more than 100 airings concentrated in Cleveland, Columbus, and Cincinnati — three of Ohio's biggest media markets. Ramaswamy's campaign has said it committed $4 million to air the ad. Acton on Thursday said of the ad, "It was a horrible and hideous thing to do. A sad thing. And I feel like it was an exploitative thing to do." "My mother is not well," Acton said. Her brother, Philip Stearns, told The New York Times in a statement earlier this week that he and Acton were removed from their mother's custody after their stepfather was arrested. "Our birth mother stayed married to Amy's rapist until he died," Stearns said. "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." Former Ohio Sen. Rob Portman, a Republican, told Politico on Thursday that the ad should be taken down. "The increasing incivility in the political arena should concern us all," Portman said, according to Politico's Jonathan Martin. "This ad is an unfortunate example of that broader trend. It crosses the line. I hope the ad will be taken down and the final days of the campaign will focus on policy differences." — CNBC's Luke Fountain contributed to this article.
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