Vivek admits producing attack ad with rival’s estranged mother — says $4 million more is coming

THE DAILY BS: HOW MUCH CAN YOU HANDLE?

SPARE ME THE BS (I’ve got things to do).

Vivek Ramaswamy’s campaign confirmed Tuesday that it produced the controversial advertisement featuring Amy Acton’s estranged mother.
The Republican campaign says it will spend $4 million promoting the ad despite criticism from Republicans and Democrats.
Acton’s brother has released a response defending her account of childhood abuse and condemning the campaign’s decision.

LAY IT ON ME (I’ve got time).

The Ohio governor’s race has officially wandered into territory that makes ordinary political mudslinging look like a friendly neighborhood bake sale.

Republican Vivek Ramaswamy’s campaign confirmed Tuesday that it produced the explosive advertisement featuring the estranged mother of Democratic opponent Amy Acton — and intends to spend $4 million putting it in front of voters.

That’s right. After the uproar over the original video, the campaign decided the appropriate response was apparently more airtime.

The ad features Donna Arthur, Acton’s estranged mother, attacking her daughter’s honesty and defending Ramaswamy.

“It’s not easy for a mother to say this, but Amy was a serious problem. She is a liar; she lies about her past,” Arthur says.

But the family history behind this political attack is especially disturbing.

Acton has described being abused during childhood, including sexual abuse by her stepfather. Historical police and court records reviewed by the Associated Press support important elements of her account. Her mother remained married to the stepfather.

Now Acton’s brother, Philip Stearns, has stepped into the campaign with a response video of his own.

“I received a lot of abuse, but Amy always got the worst of it,” he says.

He describes his sister protecting him while they were children and condemns the decision to turn their experiences into campaign material.

“Shame on Vivek,” Stearns declares.

The exchange leaves voters watching two members of the same family deliver radically different versions of a painful history in rival political advertisements.

And that is a new level of ugly, even for modern campaign politics.

Ramaswamy’s operation argues that scrutiny of Acton’s character and credibility is legitimate. His critics say the campaign has crossed a boundary by putting an estranged family member at the center of an attack involving documented childhood trauma.

The backlash has crossed party lines, with prominent Republican voices joining Democrats in criticizing the tactic.

Yet the Republican campaign isn’t backing down. It’s putting millions behind the message with Election Day approaching.

There are plenty of substantive arguments available in Ohio about taxes, education, economic development, public health and the record of politicians asking voters for power.

Instead, the race has produced a spectacle in which a candidate’s childhood has become an advertising battleground.

Voters will decide whether that $4 million buys persuasion or something considerably less flattering.

But one thing is certain: Whoever approved this commercial can’t complain that Ohio politics lacks drama.