POLPolitics NO. ---

Trump backs Ramaswamy Acton ad as DeWine asks for it to come down

Ramaswamy's campaign says it did not pay the mother and plans to spend $4 million promoting the ad. Acton says her mother is "not well." Ohio votes on 3 November in a race rated a toss-up.

By Rowan Ashby Published 22.10.26 21:04 UTC 5 min read

Vivek Ramaswamy, Republican candidate for Ohio governor, speaking with attendees at AmericaFest 2025 in Phoenix, Arizona — Gage Skidmore via Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source

Key takeaways

President Donald Trump on Thursday, 22 October 2026, urged Republican Vivek Ramaswamy to keep running a campaign ad in which Democrat Amy Acton's estranged birth mother calls her a liar, according to AP.
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, a Republican who has endorsed Ramaswamy, called the Ramaswamy Acton ad "deeply, deeply troubling" and asked the campaign to take it down.
Ramaswamy's campaign says it produced the ad, did not pay the mother and plans to spend $4 million promoting it.
Acton says her mother is "not well" and that the ad exploits a childhood she has described as marked by abuse and neglect.
Ohio votes on 3 November 2026; independent forecasters rate the governor's race a toss-up.

What happened with the Ramaswamy Acton ad

President Donald Trump on Thursday, 22 October, urged Vivek Ramaswamy to keep running the Ramaswamy Acton ad, in which Democrat Amy Acton's estranged birth mother calls her a liar, AP reported. Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine has asked the campaign to take it down.

Trump's post came hours after DeWine criticized the ad at the Ohio Statehouse. "It's wrong to run this ad," the governor told reporters, according to AP, adding that his wife had seen it on television that morning. DeWine said family members have "always historically been off limits" in campaign attacks. He has not withdrawn his endorsement of Ramaswamy.

A day earlier, on Wednesday, 21 October, Trump struck a more distant tone. Leaving the White House, he told reporters, "The fact is I know nothing about it," and called the dispute "a very unusual situation," AP reported.

Timeline

Date (2026)	Development	Source
Mon 19 Oct	A blurry clip of the video appears on X, without the legally required "paid for by" disclaimer	WOSU, AP
Tue 20 Oct	Ramaswamy confirms at a campaign stop in Westerville, Ohio, that the ad is "from our campaign"	ABC6, AP
Tue 20 Oct	Acton confirms the woman is her mother and says her mother is lying	WOSU
Wed 21 Oct	Campaign announces $4 million to promote the ad; Trump says he knows "nothing about it"	AP
Wed 21 Oct	Vice President JD Vance criticizes Republicans "whining" about the ad	AP, CNN
Thu 22 Oct	DeWine urges the campaign to take the ad down; Trump urges Ramaswamy to keep it running	AP, Mediaite

What we know

Who made it: Ramaswamy said on 20 October, "It is an ad from our campaign," ABC6 reported. Campaign spokesperson Connie Luck said the mother was not paid for the one-minute video, according to AP.
What it says: In the video, Acton's estranged birth mother calls her "a liar," disputes Acton's account of growing up homeless and urges voters not to elect her, according to AP and WOSU.
Ramaswamy's case: Ramaswamy said Acton had spread "defamatory, disparaging lies" about him and his family, and that voters "deserve the truth," ABC6 reported. His campaign manager, Jonathan Ewing, called the ad "a campaign-ending moment for Amy Acton," according to AP. The campaign also points to an earlier Acton remark about Ramaswamy's mother, which it calls "slanderous."
Acton's response: Acton told reporters her mother is the one who is lying and that Ramaswamy "has taken advantage of someone who's clearly not well," WOSU reported. She said the last time she saw her mother was at age 12, during her parents' divorce proceedings. Her campaign released a video in which her brother backs her account.
Republican split: Besides DeWine, U.S. Sen. Jon Husted and Secretary of State Frank LaRose said they would not have run the ad, and Nikki Haley criticized Ramaswamy, according to AP. Ohio Republican Party chairman Alex Triantafilou posted a warning about party loyalty that said, "we are keeping score."

What we don't know yet

Who wrote the script and how the mother came to take part; Ramaswamy did not say whether she was coached, ABC6 reported.
Whether the version aired on television now carries the required disclaimer, and whether any complaint will be filed over the original clip.
How the ad will affect the race. Public polls before the controversy showed Acton slightly ahead, often within the margin of error, according to WOSU; no poll fully reflecting the past week has been widely published.

Background

Acton, a physician, led the Ohio Department of Health during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Ramaswamy, a biotech entrepreneur, ran for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024 and has Trump's endorsement for governor. DeWine is term-limited. No Democrat has won the Ohio governorship since Ted Strickland in 2006, WOSU noted, and both the Cook Political Report and Sabato's Crystal Ball rate the contest a toss-up.

Acton has spoken publicly about a childhood of poverty, homelessness and abuse. AP reported that police and court records show her then-stepfather was charged in 1978 with raping her when she was 12; he pleaded not guilty, failed to appear for a later hearing and died in 2004. Acton and her brother were removed from their mother's custody, according to AP and ABC6. Before this ad, the campaigns had already traded personal attacks: Acton's campaign calls Ramaswamy a "conman" over his pharmaceutical businesses, while his campaign calls her a "serial fabulist," WOSU reported.

The fight over the ad is unfolding during a heated US midterm season; see our coverage of the US–Canada midterm interference dispute, Trump's legal fight in the BBC defamation lawsuit, and another close race abroad in Brazil's presidential runoff.

What it means

The episode tests how far a candidate's family can be drawn into a campaign, a line DeWine said has historically been respected. Trump's intervention makes it harder for Ohio Republicans to distance themselves, while Vance has warned them not to break ranks. Democrats, including former Sen. Sherrod Brown, who is challenging Husted, have called the ad "disgusting," according to AP. More than 676,000 Ohioans had already voted early as of AP's 21 October report, so any shift in opinion will matter only for ballots still to be cast before 3 November.

Frequently asked questions

What is the Ramaswamy ad about Amy Acton?

It is a roughly one-minute video produced by Vivek Ramaswamy's campaign in which Amy Acton's estranged birth mother calls the Democratic candidate a liar and urges voters not to elect her. The campaign said the mother was not paid and that it plans to spend $4 million promoting the ad, according to AP.

What did Trump say about the Ramaswamy ad?

On October 22, 2026, Trump posted on Truth Social that Ramaswamy had put up a "very powerful Ad" and that the press was trying to get it taken down "because it's so good," according to AP and Mediaite. A day earlier he told reporters he knew nothing about the ad.

Which Republicans have criticized the ad?

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine called it "deeply, deeply troubling" and urged the campaign to take it down. U.S. Sen. Jon Husted and Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose said they would not have run it, and Nikki Haley also criticized Ramaswamy, AP reported.

When is the Ohio governor election?

The general election is on November 3, 2026. Independent forecasters including the Cook Political Report and Sabato's Crystal Ball rate the Acton–Ramaswamy race a toss-up, according to WOSU.