Vivek Ramaswamy has quietly edited his controversial attack ad targeting Democratic rival Amy Acton, removing her estranged mother’s accusations that she lied about being homeless as a child.
Days after President Donald Trump urged him not to take the ad down, the MAGA gubernatorial candidate released a new 30-second version of the original 60-second spot amid scathing bipartisan criticism.
The shift came hours before Acton appeared onstage with Barack Obama in Cleveland, Ohio, where the former president delivered a scorched-earth rebuke of Ramaswamy, saying there was almost nothing he wouldn’t do to get into the limelight.
“There’s got to be something inside you where you just say, ‘No office is worth stooping that low,’” Obama said of the Trump-backed gubernatorial candidate.
The original ad sparked a political firestorm because Acton had not spoken to her mother, Donna Arthur, in decades. Arthur remained with Acton’s stepfather even after he raped her as a child.
The Democrat has also spoken publicly about the difficult childhood she shared with her brother—an experience she recounted again on Saturday.
The original 60-second ad released by Ramaswamy’s campaign specifically challenged Acton’s account of spending part of her childhood living in a tent, with Arthur saying:
“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 continued. “She lies about her past. She says she grew up living in a tent. None of that is true. She’s lied her entire life. My daughter needs help, and she can’t help you if she needs help herself. People can change, but first they have to tell the truth. And my daughter still isn’t doing that.”
But the new version omits those specific allegations about Acton’s childhood, instead featuring Arthur saying: “I love my daughter, and Amy is a liar. I saw her lying about her opponent. That’s why I’m speaking up to you now. Don’t vote for people who lie. Don’t let her become your governor. If you think she’ll make your life better, you’re fooling yourself. It will only get worse.”
Ramaswamy’s campaign did not respond to questions from the Daily Beast about the edited ad on Saturday, one day after the gubernatorial hopeful spent much of Friday insisting he had done nothing wrong.
“Our ad was about a consistent track record of Amy Acton telling lies, including during this campaign,” he said, criticizing the media for not failing to cover what he described as lies she had told about him and his family.
Trump and Vice President JD Vance also backed Ramaswamy, despite the controversy surrounding Acton’s childhood abuse.
Many other Republicans, however, urged Ramaswamy to reverse course, warning that the backlash could also affect their must-win Senate race in Ohio between former Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown and Republican incumbent/former college football player/object of Trump’s affection, Jon Husted.
“I wouldn’t have told him to put out that ad,” Henry Nickel, who has been knocking on doors for the GOP for weeks, told the Daily Beast in Ohio.
Some Republicans even declared they would vote for neither Ramaswamy nor Acton, potentially undermining the very goal of Trump’s rallies: turning out the Republican vote.
“If one must sell one’s soul and reject decency to be elected to office in Ohio, then I praise my Savior and Protector that @OhioGOP pushed Dave out of the race a year before the primary,” said Darlene Yost, the wife of former Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, who had sought the Republican gubernatorial nomination.
“Lord forgive us, and save our republic,” she said.
Acton, 60, served as Ohio’s top health official under Republican Gov. Mike DeWine, and regularly appeared alongside him for televised updates during the COVID-19 pandemic.
DeWine has since endorsed Ramaswamy to succeed him but called the ad “deeply, deeply troubling” and urged the campaign to take it down.
“You probably heard by now, as a young child, my brother and I experienced a lot of child abuse and neglect,” Acton told the near-capacity crowd in Cleveland on Saturday as they cheered her on.
“We moved countless times as kids, and even wound up living in a tent in the middle of winter,” she continued. “And now my opponent has chosen to intentionally exploit my childhood to save his struggling campaign—but it’s not going to work.”
The latest polls put Acton ahead of Ramaswamy. But at the Circleville Pumpkin Show on Friday night, Michael Hicks said he was optimistic Republicans would hold on to Ohio, “once the air cleared.”
“There’s too much lying going on. Who’s telling the truth? Who’s doing what? Let’s get down to the issues,” he said.
Asked which issues he wanted addressed, he replied: “I think the number one issue with me is that the career politicians that are corrupt need term limits, and we need oversight on these guys.”
While Ramaswamy and Acton battle over the increasingly ugly campaign, some Ohio voters say they have more pressing concerns than political mudslinging.
In the former industrial town of East Palestine, Ohio, local resident Jami Wallace said healthcare was her main concern. In 2023, 38 cars from a Norfolk Southern freight train derailed in her town, many carrying hazardous materials including vinyl chloride.
Three years later, she said residents were still dealing with the long-term health impacts, but felt abandoned by both Republicans and Democrats.
“I can’t even afford to get my daughter’s cavities filled right now as they want $400 upfront,” she told the Daily Beast.
