Trump backs US campaign attack ad featuring Democrat’s estranged mother

US President Donald Trump backs Vivek Ramaswamy, the Republican candidate for Ohio governor, over an attack ad featuring his Democratic rival’s estranged mother, whose husband was charged with raping the candidate as a child.

Ramaswamy faced a firestorm of criticism over the ad featuring the mother of Amy Acton, who remained married to the man who the candidate says sexually abused her for years.

But Trump on his Truth Social network defends the “very powerful” advertisement and accused the media of a “well coordinated attack” aimed at getting Ramaswamy, a former presidential hopeful, to stop running it.

“Vivek should keep it up, and let everyone listen to the mother of a defective, dishonest, and incapable Candidate, explain how the daughter is a DISASTER who, uncontrollably, lies, cheats, and steals!” Trump writes.

The estranged mom of Amy Acton, the Democratic nominee for Ohio governor, just called her daughter a liar and urged people not to vote for her.

What the ad leaves out: Acton and her brother were removed from their mother’s custody after Acton accused her stepfather of sexual… pic.twitter.com/kAqn3tMl7F

— The Recount (@therecount) October 20, 2026

“I only wish the mothers of my opponents would be so brave as to come forward and explain that their son or daughter is a liar, and much worse.”

Trump, 80, adds: “If my mother, the legendary Mary MacLeod Trump, said anything bad about me, the Fake News would play it up.”