CEDARVILLE — Bipartisan backlash after the Vivek Ramaswamy campaign put together an ad featuring Dr. Amy Acton’s estranged mother.
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Ramaswamy is standing by the ad this afternoon, as the Acton campaign explains her mother lost custody of her after prosecutors charged her husband with raping Acton.
The ad featuring Acton’s estranged mother appeared online Tuesday.
Acton’s mother lost custody of her when she was 12.
Her husband was charged with sexually assaulting Acton in 1978.
“Her mother chose to speak out. She spoke out several years ago. That’s between Amy Acton and her mother,” Ramaswamy said.
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The Ramaswamy campaign is taking responsibility and standing by it.
“What I do know is that Amy Acton has been repeatedly and serially dishonest during this campaign,” Ramaswamy said.
In a statement, Acton’s campaign called it “despicable,” adding, “Ramaswamy is showing Ohio exactly who he is.”
“If advertising didn’t work, it would not be a billion-dollar business. Advertising does have impact,” Prof. Derrick Green said.
Green is chair of the communication department at Cedarville University.
He spent 30 years studying political ads.
“I think it’s a reminder that when it comes to advertising in today’s world, the gloves are off,” Green said.
He said that with so much of the political conversation now over social media, algorithms tend to favor the controversial.
“Now everybody knows about it because it went viral on social media,” he said.
In a race this close, this extra attention could push one of the candidates over the finish line.
“The question will be: is that going to be a positive thing or a negative thing for either candidate? And I think it’s too early for us to know that for sure,” Green said.
As of now, the ad has not appeared on TV yet.
The Ramaswamy campaign said they’re putting $4 million behind it.
To push back, the Acton campaign has put together an ad featuring her brother explaining their difficult childhood.
With less than two weeks until election day, Ohio voters will have the final say.
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