Trump urges Ramaswamy to keep airing Acton ad

President Donald Trump urged Ohio Republican gubernatorial nominee Vivek Ramaswamy to keep airing a campaign ad featuring the estranged mother of his Democratic rival, Amy Acton, as Republican officials criticized the spot over its treatment of Acton’s childhood abuse allegations. In a post on Truth Social, Trump called the one-minute advertisement powerful and attacked Acton’s character, as well as Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, who had criticized the ad. Trump said Ramaswamy should let voters hear Donna Arthur’s accusations against her daughter. Those accusations, made in the advertisement, have not been independently corroborated in the reporting. Ramaswamy’s campaign confirmed it produced the ad and said it planned to spend $4 million airing it in the closing days of the race. The campaign said Arthur was not paid for her appearance. It has characterized Acton as untruthful, while Acton’s campaign has rejected that characterization and released a response advertisement featuring her brother, Philip Stearns. Stearns criticized Ramaswamy for using the family’s history of childhood abuse as a political talking point. Acton has said she and her brother experienced abuse, hunger and...