Trump urges Ramaswamy to keep airing ad featuring Amy Acton's estranged mother after DeWine calls it wrong

Summary

Ohio Republican Governor Mike DeWine said on Thursday that gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy was wrong to release an ad critical of his Democratic rival, Amy Acton, that featured her estranged mother, and he implored Ramaswamy to take the ad down. Hours later, President Donald Trump rebuked DeWine, urged Ramaswamy to keep airing the ad, and accused the Republican governor of disloyalty. Vivek Ramaswamy has faced a firestorm of criticism over the ad, which features the mother of his polls rival, Amy Acton.

Timeline

1. The Guardian

   22 Oct 2026, 20:11 UTCSource ↗

   Reports that Ohio Governor Mike DeWine said on Thursday that Vivek Ramaswamy was wrong to release an ad featuring Amy Acton's estranged mother and urged him to take it down, and that Donald Trump then rebuked DeWine, urged Ramaswamy to keep the ad running, and accused DeWine of disloyalty.

2. The Straits Times

   22 Oct 2026, 21:22 UTCSource ↗

   Reports that Trump backed the campaign attack ad featuring the estranged mother of Democrat Amy Acton, and that Vivek Ramaswamy has faced a firestorm of criticism over the ad.

3. Al Jazeera

   23 Oct 2026, 02:22 UTCSource ↗

   Reports that Trump advised the Republican gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy to keep running the controversial advertisement featuring rival Amy Acton's estranged mother.