Vivek Ramaswamy pulls controversial attack ad after Trump defends it as 'fair game'

Vivek Ramaswamy's controversial attack ad featuring the estranged mother of his Democratic opponent, Dr. Amy Acton, is off the air after the Republican spent about a quarter of what his campaign initially said it would invest to run it.Ramaswamy said during a campaign appearance in Vandalia, Ohio, on Thursday that the ad's planned run was over. His campaign originally said it would spend $4 million to air the ad, but data from the ad-tracking firm AdImpact showed it spent roughly $1 million.The divisive spot had provoked backlash in Ohio and among politicians of both parties across the nation. It featured Donna Arthur calling her daughter a lifelong liar. That was despite the two having not seen each other for nearly 50 years. Arthur lost custody of her children in 1978 after her husband, their stepfather, was indicted for raping Acton when she was 12.A controversial ad showing the mother of Republican Vivek Ramaswamy’s Democratic opponent, Amy Acton, urging Ohians not to elect her governor has been taken off the air (Getty)Ramaswamy had defended the ad, though a later version trimmed some portions.President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance said they supported the decision to air the ad. The president said he told Ramaswamy to leave it on the air, adding “she’s fair game.”Ohio governors past and present, alumni of Ramaswamy's Catholic high school in Cincinnati and others had urged him to pull it down.Acton's campaign said the ad was “despicable,” should never have run, and that Ramaswamy should have apologized.President Donald Trump has complained that Ohio Republican gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy has been treated “very unfairly” over his attack ad on rival Dr. Amy Acton featuring her estranged mother.The TV spot presents Donna Arthur telling Ohioans that her daughter is a "liar", “needs help” and urging them not to vote for her.It does not mention that the Democrat, 60, has not spoken to Arthur for 48 years because she refused to believe Acton's claim that she was raped by her stepfather when she was 12 years old, a man with whom Arthur stayed until his death in 2004.Appearing at a midterms rally in Chillicothe to support Ramaswamy and GOP Sen. Jon Husted, the president launched into a tirade against critics of the promo, including many members of his own party.“He had the mother of his opponent say that her daughter is a liar,” Trump explained to his audience, even joking: “I said ‘Why can’t I have an opponent like that?’ She said… horrible things about her own daughter.”President Donald Trump appeared with Vivek Ramaswamy in Ohio Wednesday (AFP/Getty)The president made no mention of Acton's traumatic backstory and instead related the situation to himself.“If Mary MacLeod ever said, ‘My son Donald is a liar and he lied about his opponent and other things’, I would say the press would be getting Pulitzer Prizes if they reported it,” Trump hypothesized."But with Vivek, ‘How dare he put that information…’ What's to put out? There's nothing to put out.“The mother said that Amy Acton, the daughter, is a liar, that she’s no good, that she lied about the opponent. How the hell is that his problem?”As the crowd applauded, the president tutted: “Very unfair. And if he were a Democrat, they would have gone the other way. Believe me, it’s a very unfair situation. Hard to believe we win, you know.”Ramaswamy did not mention the ad himself when he addressed the rally in Chillicothe (AFP/Getty)Ramaswamy also spoke at the rally but did not mention the ad directly; he had previously been angrily heckled, had venues cancel on him, and was even denounced by one of his own former school teachers over the controversy, which his aides reportedly advised him against starting.However, he did say of Acton: “I am running against a woman who has already shown you who she is and what she’s made of.”Trump previously mounted the same spirited defense of his one-time rival for the Republican presidential nomination in front of the White House, sparring with reporters when asked his opinion of the ad.On that occasion, the president repeated his argument that the media would have had a field day with such a story if his own mother had said it about him, alleging a moral double standard.“This is a mother saying very bad things about her daughter, and I don’t know why that should be shielded,” he insisted, going on to declare that Acton was “fair game” because she was running for public office and again showing no interest in the history of sexual abuse she has said she suffered as a minor.Acton called Ramaswamy's ad 'unacceptable' on MS NOW but expressed gratitude over the outpouring of public support she has received (MS NOW)The president has also lashed out at the Republicans who have criticized Ramaswamy, most notably Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, whom he called a "RINO" and “disloyal” on Truth Social and lamented having helped win the election.“He probably wants a Dumocrat to win, and certainly doesn’t want someone who will do a much better job than he is capable of doing,” Trump seethed in the post, in which he also admitted he personally advised Ramaswamy to keep running.“Who wouldn’t use such an ad?” he wrote. “I would, it’s called ‘hitting pay dirt.’”Speaking to Jen Psaki on MS NOW Wednesday, Acton herself said the ad was “unacceptable,” that she believed her mother had been “exploited” by Ramaswamy's team and that Ohioans were “exhausted” by the “hate and chaos and being purposefully pitted against one another.”She said she took heart from the outpouring of empathy she had received and reminded voters that “decency is on the ballot” next week.