Vivek Ramaswamy blames Amy Acton for ‘attack on my mother’ amid GOP backlash over campaign ad

WASHINGTON, DC: Vivek Ramaswamy, the Republican candidate for governor of Ohio, has defended his controversial campaign advertisement featuring the estranged mother of his Democratic opponent, Amy Acton, amid a backlash from fellow Republicans.

In recently released footage, Ramaswamy was questioned about the advertisement, in which Donna Arthur made allegations about her daughter.

In response, he accused Acton of having attacked his own mother in September and described the disagreement as one of the challenges inherent in political campaigning.

Vivek Ramaswamy faces backlash over Amy Acton ad

Last month, Ramaswamy's campaign released an advertisement featuring Arthur, who discussed her estranged relationship with Acton and accused her daughter of lying about her past and having serious problems with the truth.

Acton has previously stated that she was abused by her stepfather as a child and was removed from her mother's care at the age of 12. Her brother, Philip Stearns, has also supported her account of the events.

The Associated Press reported that Acton's stepfather was accused of abusing her when she was 12. He was indicted by a grand jury in 1979 but failed to appear at a subsequent court hearing. He remained at large until at least 1981 and died in 2004.

In the video, Arthur says: "I love my daughter, but when I saw her lying about her opponent, and it's not easy for a mother to say this, but Amy has a serious problem. She is a liar, she lies about her past."

She continued: "I've always known that she was deeply sick and unwell, and it's sad to see Vivek Ramaswamy exploit her all for his own political gain."

Ramaswamy accuses Amy Acton of attacking his mother

In the newly released footage, Ramaswamy is questioned about the advertisement by an unidentified woman. The date on which the video was recorded is not specified.

In an apparent reference to Arthur, the woman says, "you've had a lot of recent backlash, serious backlash, on your recent campaign ad that features an abuser."

Ramaswamy replies: "Unfortunately in politics it was a real challenge for me when my opponent made an attack on my mother in September.”

"It was unfair and it was a lie and unfortunately the person I'm running against does have serial problems with the truth and every person that's worked with her has said so and the people who know her best say so and in politics, it's a tough sport, and you point out where you think your opponents are flawed."

On August 12, Acton's campaign released a statement accusing Ramaswamy of having "hired his own mother, who lacked research experience, to manipulate clinical trial data in an alleged 'pump and dump' pharmaceutical scheme.

The controversy surrounding the campaign advertisement comes as polling indicates that Acton is leading Ramaswamy in the Ohio gubernatorial race. According to the Silver Bulletin polling average on Wednesday, Acton had 48.7% support, compared with Ramaswamy's 44%, a difference of 4.7 percentage points.

The RealClearPolitics polling average also showed Acton leading the race.

Earlier in the week, CNN reported that Ramaswamy's approval rating among independent voters in Ohio had fallen to minus 25, the lowest recorded for a Republican gubernatorial candidate in the state since 2000.