Has Vivek Ramaswamy’s attack ad against Amy Acton backfired?

Ramaswamy’s ad featuring Acton’s estranged mother draws Republican criticism as Ohio governor’s race heats up.

Vivek Ramaswamy looks on during AmericaFest, in Phoenix, Arizona, US, on December 19, 2025 File: Cheney Orr/Reuters]

An attack advertisement by Republican Ohio gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy targeting his Democratic opponent, Amy Acton, has sparked criticism within his own party, less than two weeks before November 3 midterm elections in the United States.

The ad features Acton’s estranged mother accusing Acton of being a liar.

list 1 of 1 Trump backs Ramaswamy ad featuring rival Amy Acton’s estranged mother

Ramaswamy has refused to withdraw the ad, even as senior Republicans have called for its removal.

So what does the ad show, why has it sparked controversy and could it affect Ohio’s governor’s race?

Here is what we know:

What does Vivek Ramaswamy’s advert show?

The ad, which began circulating online on Monday, features Acton’s mother, Donna Arthur, accusing her daughter of lying about her childhood and suggesting she has a mental illness.

“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,” Arthur said in the video.

Arthur also disputed Acton’s account of experiencing homelessness and living in a tent as a child as she urged Ohioans not to vote for her daughter.

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Amy Acton, second from left [File: Carolyn Kaster/AP]

However, the ad does not mention that the two have been estranged since 1978 when Acton was 12 and was removed from her mother’s custody after her stepfather was charged with raping her.

Her stepfather pleaded not guilty but failed to appear in court and was never tried. Acton and her brother have publicly described the abuse they experienced as children.

Court records and news reports from the time support key elements of Acton’s account of her childhood. FactCheck.org also found records linking her stepfather to the campground where Acton said her family lived in a tent, contradicting Arthur’s claim that the family never lived there.

Arthur remained married to Acton’s stepfather until his death.

On Tuesday, Ramaswamy’s campaign confirmed it was behind the advertisement and announced plans to spend $4m promoting it.

Why has the advertisement sparked controversy?

On Tuesday, Acton’s campaign released a statement recounting her childhood and a response ad featuring her brother, Phil Stearns.

“I received a lot of abuse, but Amy always got the worst of it,” Stearns said. “She continued to receive that abuse because she knew she had to protect me.”

The use of Acton’s family history has raised questions about how far political campaigns should go in attacking opponents.

David Niven, a political science professor at Ohio’s University of Cincinnati, told Al Jazeera that while campaigns have used relatives to criticise candidates before, this advertisement was particularly unusual.

“We’ve seen family members used before but not in such a deeply personal way,” Niven said.

“So we occasionally see a family member who’s talking about disagreements, you know, talking about a different kind of political outlook, but not this degree of just personal destruction. That’s what’s unprecedented here.”

How have Trump and other Republicans responded?

President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance have defended Ramaswamy while other senior Republicans have called for the ad to be withdrawn.

On Thursday, Trump described the ad as “very powerful” and said he had encouraged Ramaswamy to continue running it. Vance told Republicans to “stop whining” about the controversy and focus on winning the elections.

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine, who has endorsed Ramaswamy, called the advertisement “deeply, deeply troubling” and urged its withdrawal although he maintained his endorsement.

Ohio Senator Jon Husted has also distanced himself from the ad.

Niven said the disagreement reflected a broader divide between traditional Republicans and the party’s Trump-aligned wing.

“So there’s a real divide between the Republican Party as it kind of traditionally was, that had something of a standard, and the Republican Party of Trump and Vance that will say anything at any time, regardless of the, you know, propriety of it.”

Ramaswamy has refused to withdraw the ad.

Who are Vivek Ramaswamy and Amy Acton?

Vivek Ramaswamy , 41, is a Republican businessman and former biotechnology executive who unsuccessfully sought the party’s presidential nomination in 2024 before endorsing Trump.

Born and raised in Ohio, he is running for governor with the president’s endorsement.

Amy Acton, 60, is a physician and former director of the Ohio Department of Health who became nationally known for leading the state’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic under DeWine.

Raised in Youngstown, she has spoken publicly about experiencing poverty, homelessness and abuse during childhood.

Neither candidate has previously held elected office.

Could the ad backfire?

The ad could generate sympathy for Acton, particularly among survivors of sexual abuse and their families, according to political analysts.

“Every negative attack carries the risk of backfiring,” Jerry Miller, a professor of communication studies and a political advertising expert at Ohio University, told Al Jazeera.

He explained that campaigns sometimes use controversial advertisements to energise their supporters, even at the risk of alienating other voters.

“I do believe that this ad will generate a degree of empathy, particularly from sexual assault survivors and their families who have had to confront these issues,” he added.

Trump has survived numerous political controversies without losing the support of his base, but Niven said Ramaswamy may find it harder to move past this one.

“The thing that Trump has mastered is he’s always involved in a hundred controversies at a time,” he said. “So you kind of lose track of one controversy because it’s replaced by another one so quickly after.”

But Ramaswamy may not have that advantage.

“The problem for Ramaswamy is this is the only thing people are going to be seeing and hearing. He’s not going to be able to achieve the sort of Trump controversy distraction game,” Niven added.

Why does the controversy matter for Ohio’s governor’s race?

The controversy comes with Acton leading in several recent polls although some surveys suggested a closer contest.

On Friday, the Cook Political Report shifted the race from being a toss-up to leaning towards Acton. It cited the fallout from the advertisement. Its analysts said the race had already been moving towards Acton and the controversy had reinforced their assessment.

The backlash has also generated financial support for Acton, including a $500,000 donation from MK Pritzker, wife of Illinois Governor JB Pritzker.

Hundreds of Ohioans have already cast early ballots, and it remained unclear whether the controversy would influence undecided voters.

“What is already clear is that the controversy has taken on a life of its own, becoming a major factor in this campaign, independent of the ad that sparked it,” Miller told Al Jazeera.

Ohio is an important battleground in the November 3 elections . Once considered a swing state, it has voted for Trump in the past three presidential elections, and Republicans have held the governorship since 2011. A victory for Acton would make her the state’s first Democratic governor in 20 years.

随着俄亥俄州州长竞选日趋白热化，拉马斯瓦米发布的以阿克顿疏远的母亲为主角的竞选广告引发了共和党人的批评。

2025年12月19日，维韦克·拉马斯瓦米在美国亚利桑那州凤凰城举行的美国节上观看演出。（图片：切尼·奥尔/路透社）

距离美国11月3日中期选举不到两周，俄亥俄州共和党州长候选人维韦克·拉马斯瓦米(Vivek Ramaswamy)针对其民主党对手艾米·阿克顿(Amy Acton)发布的一则攻击性广告，引发了其所在政党内部的批评。

广告中，阿克顿疏远的母亲指责阿克顿是个骗子。

列表 1/1：特朗普支持拉马斯瓦米的竞选广告，该广告中出现了竞争对手艾米·阿克顿疏远的母亲。

尽管一些资深共和党人呼吁撤下这则广告，但拉马斯瓦米仍拒绝撤回。

那么，这则广告展示了什么？为什么它引发了争议？它会影响俄亥俄州州长竞选吗？

我们目前掌握的情况如下：

维韦克·拉马斯瓦米的广告展现了什么？

这则广告于周一开始在网上流传，广告中，艾克顿的母亲唐娜·阿瑟指责女儿对自己的童年撒谎，并暗示她患有精神疾病。

“作为母亲，说出这样的话并不容易，但艾米确实存在严重的问题。她是个骗子。她对自己的过去撒谎，”亚瑟在视频中说道。

阿瑟还对阿克顿关于自己童年时期无家可归、住在帐篷里的说法提出异议，并敦促俄亥俄州人不要投票给她的女儿。

民主党州长候选人艾米·阿克顿（左二）[图片：卡罗琳·卡斯特/美联社]

然而，这则广告并没有提到，两人自 1978 年以来就一直疏远，当时 Acton 12 岁，继父被指控强奸她后，她被从母亲身边带走。

她的继父拒不不认罪，但未出庭，因此从未受审。阿克顿和她的哥哥曾公开讲述他们童年时期遭受的虐待。

当时的法庭记录和新闻报道佐证了艾克顿对童年经历描述中的一些关键要素。FactCheck.org网站也发现了相关记录，证实她的继父与艾克顿所说的她一家人曾居住的露营地有关联，这与亚瑟声称他们一家从未在那里居住过的说法相矛盾。

亚瑟与阿克顿的继父一直保持婚姻关系，直到他去世。

周二，拉马斯瓦米的竞选团队证实，该广告是他们策划的，并宣布计划花费 400 万美元进行宣传。

这则广告为何引发争议？

周二，阿克顿的竞选团队发布了一份声明，回顾了她的童年，并发布了一则回应广告，广告中出现了她的哥哥菲尔·斯特恩斯。

“我经常遭受虐待，但艾米总是承受最严重的伤害，”斯特恩斯说。“她之所以继续忍受虐待，是因为她知道自己必须保护我。”

利用阿克顿的家族史引发了人们对政治竞选在攻击对手时应该走多远的质疑。

俄亥俄州辛辛那提大学政治学教授大卫·尼文告诉半岛电视台，虽然竞选活动以前也曾利用亲属来批评候选人，但这则广告却格外不同寻常。

“我们以前也见过利用家庭成员的情况，但从未见过如此深入人心的利用方式，”尼文说。

“所以我们偶尔会看到家庭成员之间发生分歧，比如政治观点不同，但像这样演变成人身攻击的情况却从未发生过。这才是前所未有的。”

特朗普和其他共和党人对此作何反应？

唐纳德·特朗普总统和副总统JD·万斯为拉马斯瓦米辩护，而其他一些共和党高层人士则呼吁撤回该广告。

周四，特朗普称这则广告“非常有力”，并表示他已鼓励拉马斯瓦米继续投放。万斯则告诉共和党人“停止抱怨”这场争议，应该专注于赢得选举。

俄亥俄州州长迈克·德瓦恩（Mike DeWine）曾公开支持拉马斯瓦米（Ramaswamy），他称这则广告“令人深感不安”，并敦促撤回该广告，但他仍然坚持支持拉马斯瓦米。

俄亥俄州参议员乔恩·赫斯特德也已与该广告划清界限。

尼文表示，这种分歧反映了传统共和党人和该党与特朗普结盟的派系之间更广泛的分歧。

“因此，传统的共和党和特朗普、万斯领导下的共和党之间存在着真正的分歧，前者有一定的标准，后者则随时随地都会发表任何言论，而不管这些言论是否合宜。”

拉马斯瓦米拒绝撤回广告。

Vivek Ramaswamy 和 Amy Acton 是谁？

41岁的维韦克·拉马斯瓦米是一位共和党商人，也是一位前生物技术公司高管，他曾试图在2024年获得该党总统候选人提名，但未能成功，之后他转而支持特朗普。

他在俄亥俄州出生长大，如今获得了总统的背书，正在竞选州长。

60岁的艾米·阿克顿是一名医生，曾任俄亥俄州卫生部主任，因在德瓦恩州长领导下应对新冠疫情而名声大噪。

她在扬斯敦长大，曾公开谈论过自己童年时期经历的贫困、无家可归和虐待。

两位候选人此前均未担任过任何民选职务。

这则广告会不会适得其反？

政治分析人士认为，这则广告可能会引起人们对阿克顿的同情，尤其是在性虐待幸存者及其家人中。

“每一次负面攻击都有可能适得其反，”俄亥俄大学传播学教授、政治广告专家杰里·米勒告诉半岛电视台。

他解释说，竞选活动有时会使用有争议的广告来激励支持者，即使这样做可能会疏远其他选民。

“我相信这则广告会引起一定程度的共鸣，特别是性侵幸存者及其家人，他们不得不面对这些问题，”他补充道。

特朗普曾多次经历政治争议而没有失去其基本盘的支持，但尼文表示，拉马斯瓦米可能更难摆脱这次争议的影响。

他说：“特朗普最擅长的就是同时卷入一百起争议事件。所以你很容易就会忽略掉一起争议，因为它很快就会被另一起争议所取代。”

但拉马斯瓦米可能没有这种优势。

尼文补充道：“拉马斯瓦米面临的问题是，人们只会看到和听到这些。他无法像特朗普那样通过制造争议来转移公众注意力。”

这场争议为何对俄亥俄州州长竞选至关重要？

尽管一些调查显示竞争较为激烈，但最近几项民意调查显示阿克顿领先，这引发了争议。

周五，《库克政治报告》将选情预测从势均力敌调整为倾向于阿克顿。报告指出，广告引发的连锁反应是主要原因。其分析师表示，选情此前已向阿克顿倾斜，而这场争议进一步印证了他们的判断。

这场舆论风暴也为 Acton 带来了经济支持，其中包括伊利诺伊州州长 JB Pritzker 的妻子 MK Pritzker 捐赠的 50 万美元。

已有数百名俄亥俄州选民提前投票，目前尚不清楚这场争议是否会影响尚未决定投票意向的选民。

“很明显，这场争议已经发展成一场独立于引发争议的广告之外的竞选活动，成为这场竞选活动的一个重要因素，”米勒告诉半岛电视台。

俄亥俄州是11月3日大选的重要战场。该州曾被视为摇摆州，但在过去三届总统选举中都投票支持特朗普，而且自2011年以来，共和党一直把持着州长职位。如果阿克顿胜选，她将成为该州20年来首位民主党州长。