Trump backs Ramaswamy ad on rival's mother after DeWine rebuke

Donald Trump urged Vivek Ramaswamy to keep airing a campaign ad featuring his Democratic rival's estranged mother, hours after Ohio's Republican governor, Mike DeWine, called the ad "wrong" and asked for it to be taken down.

DeWine, speaking to reporters at the Ohio state capital on Thursday, described the video as "deeply, deeply troubling" and said: "It's wrong to run this ad." The governor added that family members had "always historically been off limits" and urged the Ramaswamy campaign to pull it.

The ad shows Donna Arthur, mother of Democratic gubernatorial candidate Amy Acton, calling her daughter "a liar" and saying she should not be put in charge of the state. Ramaswamy's campaign later told Ohio media outlets that it produced the video, which began circulating on social media earlier this week, and said it would spend $4m to air it across Ohio.

Trump calls DeWine 'disloyal'

On Truth Social on Thursday afternoon, Trump rebuked DeWine over his comments, writing that the governor was "disloyal to the Republican party". Trump said he had suggested that Ramaswamy "should keep it up".

Acton, who has led the Republican nominee Ramaswamy in recent polls of the governor's race, has said she has not seen her mother for decades, after Arthur married a man who sexually abused Acton when she was 12 years old and stayed with him even after police stepped in.

DeWine noted that Acton had earlier this year raised Ramaswamy's mother's involvement in an alleged "pump and dump" scheme, though with less prominence than the Ramaswamy ad.

Connie Luck, a spokesperson for Ramaswamy's campaign, said: "We refuse to accept the media's double standards when Democrats have regularly used family members of President Trump, RFK Jr, and other Republicans in ads."

Vice-President JD Vance, speaking to reporters in Cincinnati on Wednesday, dismissed criticism of the campaign. "Whether the ad was appropriate or not is not really my concern," he said, adding: "Politics is a tough business."

In a statement released by Acton's campaign, her brother, Philip Stearns, called the ad "a despicable low" for Ramaswamy and said he and his sister were removed from Arthur's custody after her stepfather was arrested.

Republicans split on the ad

Republican US senator Jon Husted, who is facing an election bid that could decide which party controls the chamber in the 3 November midterm elections, joined the condemnation, telling the Associated Press: "I would not have run that ad." His Democratic opponent, former senator Sherrod Brown, called the video "disgusting" and said all candidates should denounce it.

Ohio's Republican secretary of state, Frank LaRose, also criticised Ramaswamy, telling the Columbus-area broadcaster ABC 6: "I probably wouldn't run an ad like that, but every candidate gets to make their own decision."

DeWine nonetheless declined to drop his endorsement of Ramaswamy in the governor's race, saying he wanted to support the "full ticket" of Republican candidates in the midterms.

Source: The Guardian.