American political ad uses a female candidate's childhood abuse and estranged mother against her

[HenriettaHippopotamus]

I couldn’t find a post about this but it’s crazy.

Amy Acton who is running in Ohio hasn't seen her mother since she was 12, when she and her brother were removed after her stepfather was charged with raping her. Her mum sided with the stepfather and fled the state. She stayed with him until his death. Her opponent is using the mother in multimillion dollar ads to call her daughter a liar.

I thought Trump had numbed me to how low they can go in American politics but this is so disgusting.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c6z981l59wnwo

Trump defends Ramaswamy ad with Acton’s estranged mom after bipartisan criticism
https://www.cnbc.com/2026/10/22/trump-ramaswamy-ad-acton-mother-ad.html

I am literally speechless with horror.

It's awful, though I'm not surprised as'the thick of it' was I suspect accurate and if anything too kind about political moral compasses. But surely also incredibly stupid? Because normal voters do have a moral compass and will be much more likely to vote for her now. Surely it'll be a slam dunk win for her? She appears to have already received significant financial donations as a direct result of the outrage felt at this awful ad.

Her mother - no words - I like to think she's delusional but I can't ever understand believing a man over your child. The article implies that the (do I have to say alleged?) paedophile rapist Stepfather ran from justice but is there not a crime of aiding and abetting a criminal in escaping justice? Why is she not facing charges now the police know where she is?

https://people.com/amy-acton-stepfather-was-charged-with-raping-her-when-she-was-a-child-now-her-ohio-election-opponent-is-using-that-against-her-12188120

She sounds like an inspirational woman who is likely to be a very good representative for women and girls.

Trump once again showing how morally benefit he is. Every day it's a new low.
Looks like this despicable campaign will backfire but what strength Amy Acton is showing . Overcoming such a childhood and then having to deal with the ultimate dirty tricks election campaign deserves real admiration.

@HenriettaHippopotamusthis was my exact reaction too!

100% this. I hope she wins a landslide.

They cover it in the rest is politics US podcast. Unbelievable.

Christ I hope she wins. I think it's likely to have helped her campaign enormously.

How utterly vile US politics is.

I'm not surprised. It shows how little he's worried about the taint of Epstein etc.

I hope she does win, it'll look so bad if Vivek isn't punished for this disgusting tactic.

The campaign team that ran this ad came out and said that no one knows exactly what happened between Amy and her mother as a defense - so why the run the ad? Even if you take that position that the man wasn't charged and maybe the siblings are lying (which seems very unlikely), you can't deny that this is a mother who hasn't seen both her children since they were children because she ran away with a fugitive - how is that conservative values?

Disgusting. This should never be tolerated for anyone.

Trump and the people who work for him and support him, are totally morally bankrupt. I am so glad that I do not live in the US.

Amy's 60 now so it happened 48 years ago. Even if the mother leaving the state with a fugitive was a crime the statute of limitations would mean the state can't pursue it now.

Shocking they didn't manage to find the stepfather over the course of more than 20 years, though.

It’s beyond vile and says everything about the candidate who released it. Unfortunately this is what politics has been reduced to under Trump

It's a really shocking add.

The worry for this particular election is that Ramaswamy has timed this so that the people most likely to swing against him are thought to be more likely to already have voted and ones who maybe would have stayed home, but won't vote for Acton, will be energised. This is because of a noted tendency for people who lean democrat (or away from Republican) to vote earlier than those who lean Republican (or away from Democrats).

The bigger worry is the lowering of standards (already pretty much on the floor) in campaigning and the continued coarsening of civil society and democracy.

Its horrifying.

I cant imagine why the Republican Party would choose to be affiliated with a peadophile enabler and apologist.

Sometimes Trump says something outrageously offensive and you can see that there is a kind of 'dead cat' or 'owning the libs' logic to it, but what are the Republicans trying to do here? Capture the pro child abuse vote?

2017-21 seems sane by comparison.

How does America and the rest of the world get through 2 more years of this?

I assume it's the "red pill" demographic (and their older counterpart with the religious influenced misogynistic fallen woman/lying temptress mindset) they're after.

But don't they already have those people, and how many are there?

I agree that seems like the target. It’s to make them get out and vote but I’m not sure it’ll work.

It also doesn’t help that her brother is now in ads countering the mother. The biological father was also supporting his children so for anyone that looks into the details it’s a lot harder to portray Amy as some crazy liar.

Republicans are worried about their supporters staying home and not voting (a fair amount of evidence suggests this will be an issue for them this year). That's what "energising the base" is supposed to counter. In this instance, get them a bit frothy mouthed and outraged that "a woman who'd lie about her step dad raping her" might become governor so they'll actually bother to vote.

I saw this the other night, watching American news on Youtube. As it was being nationally publicised, AA's opponent announced he was pouring fresh millions into promoting the ad.

It's sick beyond endurance. But I have to agree with Chris Hayes, who said that it's highlighted what an incredible person Acton is - to have gone from a 12 year old survivor, credited with shielding her brother from a lot of harm, to running for Governor, is quite the story. Her strength is inspirational.

Her mother's scum, and so is Ramaswamy.