Vice President JD Vance on Wednesday defended an advertisement by Ohio Republican governor candidate Vivek Ramaswamy that features the estranged mother of his Democratic opponent, Dr. Amy Acton, the Associated Press reported. Speaking to reporters in Cincinnati, Vance said he was 'disgusted' by Republican pushback against the ad and that it was 'not really my concern' whether the 60-second spot was appropriate.

Source: Associated Press via 28/22 News

'Politics is a tough business,' Vance said, according to AP. He said his focus was on winning Ohio's governor and Senate races in the November 3 midterm elections, now less than two weeks away, and criticised Republicans who, in his words, were complaining more about the advertisement than about Democrats.

The advertisement features Acton's birth mother, Donna Arthur, calling her daughter a liar and insinuating she has mental health issues, AP reported. Ramaswamy's campaign confirmed it produced the ad and plans to spend about $4 million promoting it, according to BBC reporting. The BBC also reported that when the ad was first released on social media on Monday evening, it did not say who had paid for or authorised it.

Source: BBC report summary

What is solid

  • The ad was produced by Vivek Ramaswamy's campaign and features Amy Acton's estranged mother, Donna Arthur (AP, BBC).
  • Vice President JD Vance defended the ad in Cincinnati on Wednesday, October 21 (AP).
  • Republican Sen. Jon Husted told AP he would not have run the ad.

What is only claimed

  • What happened inside the Acton family in 1978: Acton's campaign says her stepfather was charged after she alleged abuse as a child and that the family history is being used as a political talking point; Ramaswamy's campaign, through the ad, questions Acton's truthfulness about her childhood. Awaaz Punjab does not present either side's family claims as established fact.

Acton and her brother Philip have condemned the ad. Her campaign, citing court records it provided, said Acton was removed from her mother's custody in 1978 after her stepfather was charged in connection with an allegation that he raped her when she was 12; he pleaded not guilty, left Ohio and was never prosecuted, and died in 2004, according to the BBC report. Her brother accused the Ramaswamy campaign of turning that alleged childhood abuse into a political talking point, calling the ad a 'despicable low.' A Ramaswamy campaign spokesman, responding to the BBC through CBS News, repeated the ad's assertions that Acton was untruthful while conceding, 'We don't know what happened between Amy and her mother.'

The split inside the Republican camp was visible on Wednesday: Senator Jon Husted, who appeared with Vance and Ramaswamy, told AP in a statement, 'I would not have run that ad,' while former Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown, Husted's opponent, called the spot 'disgusting.' Experts quoted by the BBC said the unusually personal nature of the attack could backfire. Ohio voters decide the governor's race on November 3.