Ohio Republican gubernatorial nominee Vivek Ramaswamy is offering a new explanation for his campaign’s heavily criticized ad featuring the estranged mother of his Democratic opponent, Amy Acton. He says Acton went after his own mother first.
In a video shared Friday by the Acton campaign, Ramaswamy addressed his decision to run the ad and gave his view of Acton as a candidate. He pointed to what he described as an attack Acton made on his mother in September.
Ramaswamy said Acton’s attack on his mother “was unfair and it was a lie.” He argued that his opponent has serious problems with the truth and said that is something the people who have worked with her have said as well.
“Politics sometimes, it’s a tough sport,” Ramaswamy said, adding that candidates point out where they think their opponents are flawed and that Acton has done the same to him. He suggested that the best way to settle the matter would be through an open debate.
Ramaswamy’s mother, Geetha Ramaswamy, has faced accusations in Ohio tied to data on intepirdine, a drug once promoted as a possible treatment for Alzheimer’s symptoms. Ramaswamy’s company, Axovant Sciences, bought the drug from GlaxoSmithKline in 2014 for $5 million.
TiffinOhio.net, an independent local newsroom, reported that the drug on its own showed no statistically significant improvement in cognition or function compared with a placebo. The outlet also reported that in an April 20, 2015, letter addressed to Ramaswamy by name, Securities and Exchange Commission staff told the company to disclose, if true, that the drug had failed to show significant improvement on two cognitive measures at any dose. Axovant complied.
The ad features Donna Arthur, Acton’s mother. Acton’s stepfather, Arthur’s husband, was charged with raping Acton when she was 12 years old. Arthur left town with her husband and has been estranged from her daughter ever since.
“I love my daughter, but when I saw her lying about her opponent, it’s not easy for a mother to say this, but Amy has a serious problem. She is a liar,” Arthur says in the ad. “She lies about her past. She says she grew up living in a tent — none of that is true.”
Ramaswamy previously said the ad was about “lying,” not “sexual abuse.”
The ad has drawn fire from both parties. Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, a fellow Republican, has said the ad needs to be taken down. Vice President JD Vance and President Donald Trump have both defended it, and Trump called it “a very powerful Ad” in a Truth Social post this week.
Ramaswamy’s campaign has committed $4 million to air the spot. With Election Day approaching, the Republican nominee is making clear he has no plans to back down.
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