President Trump told an Iowa rally crowd Thursday that he urged Vivek Ramaswamy to keep running a campaign ad featuring the estranged mother of his Democratic rival, Amy Acton.
The ad, from Ramaswamy’s campaign for Ohio governor, shows Acton’s mother calling her daughter a liar. Acton has been estranged from her mother since childhood; her mother lost custody of her children decades ago after Acton’s stepfather was indicted for sexually abusing Acton when she was a child.
Ramaswamy called Trump this week asking for advice after the ad drew condemnation from Democrats and several high-profile Ohio Republicans. Speaking in Sioux City, Trump said he told Ramaswamy he was lucky to have the spot and should leave it up.
Gov. Mike DeWine, a fellow Republican who endorsed Ramaswamy as his successor, called the ad deeply troubling and said it should come down. Sen. Jon Husted said he would not have run it. Trump fired back on social media, describing DeWine as disloyal to the Republican Party and the ad as “hitting pay dirt.”
The disagreement crossed state lines. Rep. Ashley Hinson, the GOP Senate nominee Trump was in Iowa to support, told ABC News the ad was “absolutely terrible” and should be taken down. Trump brushed her criticism aside, saying that was her opinion.
The Ramaswamy campaign said it is spending $4 million promoting the video, which began airing on television Thursday morning, according to ad-tracking firm AdImpact.
Source: Associated Press
