Oct. 23, 2026
Trump Praises Widely Condemned Vivek Ramaswamy Ad; Tells Him to “Leave It Up” And Thank God For It!
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RSS Feed Not only has Trump defended a controversial ad by Ohio gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy featuring the estranged mother of Amy Acton, he said Ramaswamy should “look upstairs and say: ‘Thank you, God, very much. I appreciate it.” The ad shows Acton’s birth mother call her own daughter a liar, urging voters not to elect her to office. However, there is no mention of the appalling backstory: Acton’s stepfather, Cledith Arthur, was charged with raping her when she was a child while married to Acton’s mother, who chose to remain with her husband, fleeing the state to avoid charges. Several prominent Republicans have condemned the ad, urging Ramaswamy, who is behind in the polls, to take it down, including the current Republican Governor Mike DeWine.
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00:00:02
Speaker 1: Hey there, folks. It is Friday, October 23rd, and it seems like the whole world has condemned that controversial attack ad. And the Ohio gubernatorial race, everybody, Republican, Democrat, has come out against it. Well, now the president has spoken. And he says you should thank the sweet Lord and baby Jesus for sending you that ad. And with that, welcome to this episode. Pretty astonishing episode of Amy and TJ Roble. I guess maybe we shouldn't be surprised at this. Everybody almost just strongly condemns this ad. He couldn't be more stronger in support of it.
00:00:39
Speaker 2: I think this is right out of Trump's playbook. If you can't beat him, double down and tell them they're all wrong and you're right. And you've got God on your side. That's how you do it.
00:00:49
Speaker 1: Yes, God was used a couple times in talking about this ad. Thank God for it. My goodness, baby. We know what we're talking about here. It's one thing. We were a little surprised by J.D. Vance, how he handled it, kind of sidestepped, tiptoed around it carefully. Trump went all in.
00:01:08
Speaker 2: He really did. And just I'm sure by now everyone listening understands the ad we're talking about. This is the highly contested Ohio gubernatorial race. And Vivek Ramaswamy, who is the Republican, right now is in trouble. He needs votes. And so in that, I would say, desperate attempt, his and he has acknowledged that his team has been behind this ad that is now on television, put $ 4 million behind it now to take it from just being online to now being on everyone's televisions. And he goes after his opponent, Amy Acton, who is a Democrat, using her own mother, but her birth mother, her estranged mother, who goes on television and calls her daughter a liar. But the devil is in the details, isn't it? Because Donna Arthur, the mom who went out and told the world that her daughter has a serious problem, that her daughter is a liar, that her daughter lies about her past, that she's lied her entire life, that her daughter needs mental health help. And if she needs to help herself, she can't help you as governor. Don't vote for my daughter.
00:02:18
Speaker 1: Wow, that's pretty powerful stuff for a mom.
00:02:21
Speaker 2: Well, Donna Arthur lost custody of Amy and her brother back in 1978 when Amy was just 12 years old because her husband, Amy's stepfather, was indicted on a charge of raping Amy from December of 1976 onwards. until April of 1978 when she was finally removed from the home. And she has not had contact with her mother since 1978.
00:02:49
Speaker 1: When we say contact, I thought maybe she hadn't seen. They say no, haven't spoken in 50 years. And this is the woman they want to bring out who knows Amy Acton best. And she has a known nurse since she was 12 years old. Robes, there is, to be clear, it would be pretty devastating, but It's politics if someone was able to get a family member to speak out against a candidate. We've seen that before. It's not that necessarily uncommon. So that's not the part anyone's necessarily arguing about being below the belt. We're on the same page, right?
00:03:26
Speaker 2: Absolutely.
00:03:27
Speaker 1: Okay. So that is where it seems... Trump and Vance leave the conversation. Like, what's the big deal? So they used her mom. That's great. I wish other people's family members would come out against them when they're bad candidates. They leave it there. And that's the problem. You're shaking your head. Yes, baby. They're leaving it there. No one is suggesting it's below the belt to use someone's family member. If they want to speak out against that candidate, that's not the issue.
00:03:59
Speaker 2: They are championing a woman who betrayed her daughter and chose her husband, who the state charged with raping her daughter, who left her daughter unprotected and then called her a liar. When the state brought charges against Cletith Arthur, and by the way, he failed to show up for his court appearance, he fled the state, became a fugitive, all the while her mother remained married to him until his death in 2004.
00:04:30
Speaker 1: Okay, you just said something, and I think if it was presented to, maybe not President Trump, but maybe J.D. Vance, the way you said it, I wonder what he would say. Are you, Mr. Vice President, wanting to champion... the word of a woman who did this to Amy Acton.
00:04:49
Speaker 2: Correct.
00:04:49
Speaker 1: And if you, who's, I've seen several folks, conservative folks, use the line, even talking about liberal women, they just lie about sexual assault. That's been thrown out there. Any suggestion that Amy Acton is a liar about this situation with her mom, Robes, aren't they saying she was a 12-year-old liar?
00:05:09
Speaker 2: That is what they're saying.
00:05:10
Speaker 1: She's a 12-year-old liar.
00:05:11
Speaker 2: Nine to 12, when the state felt there was enough evidence to bring charges, a grand jury indicted Cletith Arthur. Let's remember that. A grand jury, and he fled. He didn't stand up to the charges. He didn't go to court and say, I am innocent. Yes, he pleaded not guilty, but then he ran away. And so to say that Amy Acton is a liar is to imply, or you could just outright say, that you are choosing to believe a mother who abandoned and betrayed her daughter and didn't believe her daughter, that she has every right to call her daughter a liar.
00:05:52
Speaker 1: A 12-year-old.
00:05:52
Speaker 2: A 12-year-old. That's the last time she knew her daughter. It's the last time she saw her daughter. So in that context, that's what we're talking about.
00:06:01
Speaker 1: That context is very, very important.
00:06:03
Speaker 2: That context needed to be reiterated. Even if you know the story, just let that sink in and then take a listen to what Trump put on his Truth Social page. It's outrageous. It reads, Vivek Ramaswamy put up a very powerful ad about a mother saying that her daughter, Amy Acton, who is running for governor of Ohio, is a liar and much worse. The press, in a concerted and well-coordinated attack, is trying to get Vivek Ramaswamy to take down the ad. Frankly, anybody whose mother spoke about a daughter in that way would normally lead to the daughter being precluded from serving in office, let alone the office of governor.
00:06:56
Speaker 1: That's tough, babe. She's 12. She hasn't known her since she was 12. She has no idea what she's done since she was 12. She has no idea about this woman as a teenager, as an adult, a young adult, a mom, a professional. She doesn't know her. Why are they giving so much credence to this woman?
00:07:10
Speaker 2: This is disgusting.
00:07:11
Speaker 1: But why would they want to do? Why, baby?
00:07:13
Speaker 2: Because they want to win.
00:07:14
Speaker 1: Okay. Sorry.
00:07:15
Speaker 2: Sorry. The gubernatorial race.
00:07:18
Speaker 1: That's why. And that's it.
00:07:20
Speaker 2: Everything and everyone else be damned. If my mother, the legendary Mary McLeod Trump, said anything bad about me, the fake news would play it up. The Democrats would be totally supportive. And it would go down as the ad of the decade, maybe the century.
00:07:34
Speaker 1: That part was funny to me.
00:07:35
Speaker 2: Once again, turning it around and making it about himself.
00:07:38
Speaker 1: That was classic Trump. That was the only part of this that I kind of grinned at. The ad of the century.
00:07:43
Speaker 2: Yes, it would win awards for excellence in advertising.
00:07:46
Speaker 1: That's funny.
00:07:48
Speaker 2: But because Vivek, who will be a great governor, put it out, the artificial news has teamed up against him in order to damage, demean, and embarrass a Republican who is leading in the polls. Is he leading in the polls?
00:08:01
Speaker 1: He's not.
00:08:02
Speaker 2: That's what I thought.
00:08:03
Speaker 1: Like any of them, I believe.
00:08:05
Speaker 2: Okay. Our rhino governor of Ohio, we'll get into that in just a bit. Republican in name only is what that stands for. Our rhino governor of Ohio, Mike DeWine, who I unfortunately helped get elected years ago when he was losing by 16 points prior to my rally for him, was, as usual, disloyal to the Republican Party.
00:08:27
Speaker 1: Wait, so all Trump has to do is go do one rally for Vivek?
00:08:29
Speaker 2: 16 points, an immediate boom, an immediate boost.
00:08:32
Speaker 1: Vivek's only down by 7.8. Yeah, this is no problem. There should be no problem.
00:08:36
Speaker 2: He goes on about DeWine. He strongly suggested that Vivek should take down the ad. He probably wants a Democrat to win and certainly doesn't want someone who will do a much better job than he is capable of doing. By the way, we'll get into this again. But interestingly, though, DeWine did publicly condemn the ad. He also did not withdraw his support for Vivek. So Trump's off on that one as well. I suggested, on the other hand, that 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. I don't know where that's coming from. 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. That took a lot of courage to do, but essentially what she was really doing was saving Ohio from making a truly horrible choice. The press is trying to convince everyone that this ad is bad because it's so good. Who wouldn't use such an ad?
00:09:50
Speaker 1: I would.
00:09:51
Speaker 2: It's called hitting pay dirt. The fact is, Lion Amy Acton, who I've never even heard of before, has been lying about Vivek for the entire campaign. I know the real Vivek. Okay. This is actually so appalling because if you cut it down into what it is, he's saying that we... cannot and should not believe a child who says her stepfather raped her, a child who the state believed, a child who police believed, a child who a grand jury believed.
00:10:31
Speaker 1: Politics is something, man. Can we just need to get it over with, just get through the midterms? Is this what we're doing, baby? It seems like we hit new lows and this becomes the new standard. And so the next cycle around, none of this will even raise an eyebrow.
00:10:49
Speaker 2: That's sad to think. I didn't even consider that. That we're just making it worse and worse. And by the way, at a campaign rally in Iowa, Trump added to what he put on Truth Social, saying he told Ramaswamy to leave it up and look upstairs and say, thank you, God, very much. I appreciate it. I only wish I could have had an ad like that against somebody. That's what President Trump said to a crowd in Iowa.
00:11:16
Speaker 1: Um all we can do is tell you what he did say and look this is it's just i don't know and don't me no i don't know babe don't get mad it's just uh this is too bad i want him to do well i want people to look at the president united states and be inspired i mean kids black white they they not left and right yet everybody's looking to the office of the president united states it's something you aspire to aren't we supposed shouldn't we tell every kid you could be president one day. Don't we tell every kid to look up to that thing, that office, that standard. They're paying attention to how the president of the United States, that office is allowed to behave and how it's allowed to treat people. And, um, a kid was, a kid was raped.
00:12:02
Speaker 2: Her brother also attests to it.
00:12:04
Speaker 1: By the way. And, um, and we don't, and we're, all these ideas rose about believing women and, Here's a woman. We don't believe a child if politics gets in the way of it. We are dismissing very serious allegations just for the sake of winning an election. We are being dismissive of her entire story that has shaped her life for the sake of winning a gubernatorial race. We don't care what abuse a child suffered at. We don't care. This is, I mean, it's new lows and stunning and shocked. I don't feel anything but disappointment.
00:12:44
Speaker 2: It's disappointing.
00:12:45
Speaker 1: That's all bad.
00:12:46
Speaker 2: Look, some politicians have risen above it, and there are several Republicans. And again, these are Republicans, one of them in a current race right now who is still saying what he thinks is right. Well, you can still support the Republican candidate, Vivek Ramaswamy, but you can still condemn the actions he's taken and chosen to take to try and win said election. When we come back, we will tell you what many other Republicans have said about Vivek Ramaswamy's ad. Welcome back, everyone, to Amy and TJ. Look, this was a big deal. The current Ohio governor, who is a Republican, who has endorsed Vivek Ramaswamy, has come out and called the ad that we've been talking about against Amy Acton deeply, deeply troubling. His quote is, it's wrong to run this ad. And even at this late time, my wife, Fran, just saw the ad run this morning on TV. I would just urge the Ramaswamy campaign to take this down. He also talked about working with Acton because she worked as a public health, the public health official during COVID. He said, in regard to telling the truth, my experience with her, working closely with her every single day, she certainly told the truth in my experience. So he said that, and then at the same time said, I'm not withdrawing my support or my endorsement of Vivek Ramaswamy and the rest of the Republican ticket. He said, I stand by my endorsement, but the campaign ads have reached a new low. I do think there's a reasonable way to be able to say what you think, to call something wrong, and still say, I'm a Republican and I support this candidate.
00:14:35
Speaker 1: Yeah, there's nothing wrong with that. Isn't that what they say all the time? A lot of people had to hold their nose and vote for Trump even. knock yourselves out in what you feel. This is policy over people. What are you voting? Do you want to vote for a guy who has policies you like for your state? Do you want to vote for a guy who would do that kind of a thing? It's what you're trying to maybe balance. Some people can dismiss this. It's just politics. No big deal. What are you thinking about? It's two things. It sucks to be exploiting a family member. I mean, tragedy to these children to exploit that. The other part of that is just so misleading. You know who this woman is. You know she doesn't know Amy Acton at all.
00:15:16
Speaker 2: Misleading and exploitive. An exploitive of a child rape victim. Like, let's not look at her as a, what is she, 60-something years old woman? Let's not look at her as a grown woman. Let's look at her as a 12-year-old little girl because that is what we're talking about when it comes to the lying. Now, Ohio Senator John Husted is in the middle of his campaign, like he is up for re-election in the midterm as well, and he went on the record and said, I would not have run the ad. Former Governor John Kasich, who also ran for president, said his heart is bleeding. His quote was, it's completely inappropriate and has no place in American politics. It should be taken off the air and those responsible should apologize. Former Republican Senator Rob Portman from Ohio said the commercial crosses the line, called it an unfortunate example of the increasing incivility in the political arena. And even Ramaswamy's far right opponent in the Republican primary said he slammed the ad and said this has no place in politics. The only person I've heard other than Trump is J.D. Vance. And that's a bit of a disappointment. He wasn't as strong as Trump, but he basically said stop whining and just stop whining about an advertisement.
00:16:41
Speaker 1: Okay. I don't know if it's whining. Even that is dismissive of a child being raped. Exactly. All of that. I don't know, baby. At some point, we're supposed to all just, it's just politics. After November 3rd, everybody will shake hands and get along and we'll move back on. This is just a part of the cycle and the stakes are so high. But, Rosie, what did you use the words? I don't know who said it. A level of incivility, what did you just say?
00:17:04
Speaker 2: Oh, yeah. Yes. That came from the former senator of Ohio, Rob Portman.
00:17:11
Speaker 1: What's the line?
00:17:11
Speaker 2: He said, this is just another unfortunate example of the increasing incivility in the political arena.
00:17:17
Speaker 1: This one's different, baby. I would rather you look at somebody and yell and call them a bad name than to make light of or exploit childhood trauma. Robes. What worse can you do? You can murder somebody and molest a child. Those are like the worst things you can do.
00:17:37
Speaker 2: And in prison, I believe the lowest of the low, the scum of the prison population, are those who rape or abuse children. Period. Even murderers draw the line at that.
00:17:49
Speaker 1: I wish somebody would ask a direct question. Why is it you side with a woman who sided with a man indicted for raping her?
00:18:00
Speaker 2: To win an election is the only honest answer.
00:18:05
Speaker 1: Civility is that thing. Civility is not being civil is yelling and screaming. Not being decent is what he's doing. This is just a level of.
00:18:14
Speaker 2: Indecency.
00:18:15
Speaker 1: How can you look at a woman who was raped as a child and go, you liar. That's nothing. Let me go get your mama who knew you when you were 9 to 12 years old. I bet she'd say you're a bad kid. You lied on her husband. This good man over here.
00:18:30
Speaker 2: Had to flee to Pennsylvania.
00:18:32
Speaker 1: Yeah, because of you and your lies. And now you want to be governor? Say it. Say it out loud if that's what you believe. I'm okay with it. But other than that, you need to tell me why you choose to side with this woman. Yeah.
00:18:44
Speaker 2: I mean, look, I'd like to think that we as a country will learn our lessons. and not vote for certain types of tactics. But that would be very naive of me to say. But I can remain hopeful at this point. But this has gotten so ugly, it's hard to even get our heads around how low people are willing to go.
00:19:06
Speaker 1: Make it in. Go back to Michelle Obama, right? When they go low, we go high. I mean, we can try it all day long. But when they go low, apparently we go lower. And then they kind of go lower. And who can go the lowest?
00:19:20
Speaker 2: What is rock bottom? I shudder to see. I shudder to even imagine what could be lower than this. But we will continue because, yes, as we get closer to Election Day, I don't think things are going to get kinder. So we'll be following it all for you as folks make very important decisions at the poll. We always appreciate you listening to us. I'm Amy Robach alongside TJ Holmes. We'll talk to you soon.
Speaker 1: Hey there, folks. It is Friday, October 23rd, and it seems like the whole world has condemned that controversial attack ad. And the Ohio gubernatorial race, everybody, Republican, Democrat, has come out against it. Well, now the president has spoken. And he says you should thank the sweet Lord and baby Jesus for sending you that ad. And with that, welcome to this episode. Pretty astonishing episode of Amy and TJ Roble. I guess maybe we shouldn't be surprised at this. Everybody almost just strongly condemns this ad. He couldn't be more stronger in support of it.
00:00:39
Speaker 2: I think this is right out of Trump's playbook. If you can't beat him, double down and tell them they're all wrong and you're right. And you've got God on your side. That's how you do it.
00:00:49
Speaker 1: Yes, God was used a couple times in talking about this ad. Thank God for it. My goodness, baby. We know what we're talking about here. It's one thing. We were a little surprised by J.D. Vance, how he handled it, kind of sidestepped, tiptoed around it carefully. Trump went all in.
00:01:08
Speaker 2: He really did. And just I'm sure by now everyone listening understands the ad we're talking about. This is the highly contested Ohio gubernatorial race. And Vivek Ramaswamy, who is the Republican, right now is in trouble. He needs votes. And so in that, I would say, desperate attempt, his and he has acknowledged that his team has been behind this ad that is now on television, put $ 4 million behind it now to take it from just being online to now being on everyone's televisions. And he goes after his opponent, Amy Acton, who is a Democrat, using her own mother, but her birth mother, her estranged mother, who goes on television and calls her daughter a liar. But the devil is in the details, isn't it? Because Donna Arthur, the mom who went out and told the world that her daughter has a serious problem, that her daughter is a liar, that her daughter lies about her past, that she's lied her entire life, that her daughter needs mental health help. And if she needs to help herself, she can't help you as governor. Don't vote for my daughter.
00:02:18
Speaker 1: Wow, that's pretty powerful stuff for a mom.
00:02:21
Speaker 2: Well, Donna Arthur lost custody of Amy and her brother back in 1978 when Amy was just 12 years old because her husband, Amy's stepfather, was indicted on a charge of raping Amy from December of 1976 onwards. until April of 1978 when she was finally removed from the home. And she has not had contact with her mother since 1978.
00:02:49
Speaker 1: When we say contact, I thought maybe she hadn't seen. They say no, haven't spoken in 50 years. And this is the woman they want to bring out who knows Amy Acton best. And she has a known nurse since she was 12 years old. Robes, there is, to be clear, it would be pretty devastating, but It's politics if someone was able to get a family member to speak out against a candidate. We've seen that before. It's not that necessarily uncommon. So that's not the part anyone's necessarily arguing about being below the belt. We're on the same page, right?
00:03:26
Speaker 2: Absolutely.
00:03:27
Speaker 1: Okay. So that is where it seems... Trump and Vance leave the conversation. Like, what's the big deal? So they used her mom. That's great. I wish other people's family members would come out against them when they're bad candidates. They leave it there. And that's the problem. You're shaking your head. Yes, baby. They're leaving it there. No one is suggesting it's below the belt to use someone's family member. If they want to speak out against that candidate, that's not the issue.
00:03:59
Speaker 2: They are championing a woman who betrayed her daughter and chose her husband, who the state charged with raping her daughter, who left her daughter unprotected and then called her a liar. When the state brought charges against Cletith Arthur, and by the way, he failed to show up for his court appearance, he fled the state, became a fugitive, all the while her mother remained married to him until his death in 2004.
00:04:30
Speaker 1: Okay, you just said something, and I think if it was presented to, maybe not President Trump, but maybe J.D. Vance, the way you said it, I wonder what he would say. Are you, Mr. Vice President, wanting to champion... the word of a woman who did this to Amy Acton.
00:04:49
Speaker 2: Correct.
00:04:49
Speaker 1: And if you, who's, I've seen several folks, conservative folks, use the line, even talking about liberal women, they just lie about sexual assault. That's been thrown out there. Any suggestion that Amy Acton is a liar about this situation with her mom, Robes, aren't they saying she was a 12-year-old liar?
00:05:09
Speaker 2: That is what they're saying.
00:05:10
Speaker 1: She's a 12-year-old liar.
00:05:11
Speaker 2: Nine to 12, when the state felt there was enough evidence to bring charges, a grand jury indicted Cletith Arthur. Let's remember that. A grand jury, and he fled. He didn't stand up to the charges. He didn't go to court and say, I am innocent. Yes, he pleaded not guilty, but then he ran away. And so to say that Amy Acton is a liar is to imply, or you could just outright say, that you are choosing to believe a mother who abandoned and betrayed her daughter and didn't believe her daughter, that she has every right to call her daughter a liar.
00:05:52
Speaker 1: A 12-year-old.
00:05:52
Speaker 2: A 12-year-old. That's the last time she knew her daughter. It's the last time she saw her daughter. So in that context, that's what we're talking about.
00:06:01
Speaker 1: That context is very, very important.
00:06:03
Speaker 2: That context needed to be reiterated. Even if you know the story, just let that sink in and then take a listen to what Trump put on his Truth Social page. It's outrageous. It reads, Vivek Ramaswamy put up a very powerful ad about a mother saying that her daughter, Amy Acton, who is running for governor of Ohio, is a liar and much worse. The press, in a concerted and well-coordinated attack, is trying to get Vivek Ramaswamy to take down the ad. Frankly, anybody whose mother spoke about a daughter in that way would normally lead to the daughter being precluded from serving in office, let alone the office of governor.
00:06:56
Speaker 1: That's tough, babe. She's 12. She hasn't known her since she was 12. She has no idea what she's done since she was 12. She has no idea about this woman as a teenager, as an adult, a young adult, a mom, a professional. She doesn't know her. Why are they giving so much credence to this woman?
00:07:10
Speaker 2: This is disgusting.
00:07:11
Speaker 1: But why would they want to do? Why, baby?
00:07:13
Speaker 2: Because they want to win.
00:07:14
Speaker 1: Okay. Sorry.
00:07:15
Speaker 2: Sorry. The gubernatorial race.
00:07:18
Speaker 1: That's why. And that's it.
00:07:20
Speaker 2: Everything and everyone else be damned. If my mother, the legendary Mary McLeod Trump, said anything bad about me, the fake news would play it up. The Democrats would be totally supportive. And it would go down as the ad of the decade, maybe the century.
00:07:34
Speaker 1: That part was funny to me.
00:07:35
Speaker 2: Once again, turning it around and making it about himself.
00:07:38
Speaker 1: That was classic Trump. That was the only part of this that I kind of grinned at. The ad of the century.
00:07:43
Speaker 2: Yes, it would win awards for excellence in advertising.
00:07:46
Speaker 1: That's funny.
00:07:48
Speaker 2: But because Vivek, who will be a great governor, put it out, the artificial news has teamed up against him in order to damage, demean, and embarrass a Republican who is leading in the polls. Is he leading in the polls?
00:08:01
Speaker 1: He's not.
00:08:02
Speaker 2: That's what I thought.
00:08:03
Speaker 1: Like any of them, I believe.
00:08:05
Speaker 2: Okay. Our rhino governor of Ohio, we'll get into that in just a bit. Republican in name only is what that stands for. Our rhino governor of Ohio, Mike DeWine, who I unfortunately helped get elected years ago when he was losing by 16 points prior to my rally for him, was, as usual, disloyal to the Republican Party.
00:08:27
Speaker 1: Wait, so all Trump has to do is go do one rally for Vivek?
00:08:29
Speaker 2: 16 points, an immediate boom, an immediate boost.
00:08:32
Speaker 1: Vivek's only down by 7.8. Yeah, this is no problem. There should be no problem.
00:08:36
Speaker 2: He goes on about DeWine. He strongly suggested that Vivek should take down the ad. He probably wants a Democrat to win and certainly doesn't want someone who will do a much better job than he is capable of doing. By the way, we'll get into this again. But interestingly, though, DeWine did publicly condemn the ad. He also did not withdraw his support for Vivek. So Trump's off on that one as well. I suggested, on the other hand, that 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. I don't know where that's coming from. 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. That took a lot of courage to do, but essentially what she was really doing was saving Ohio from making a truly horrible choice. The press is trying to convince everyone that this ad is bad because it's so good. Who wouldn't use such an ad?
00:09:50
Speaker 1: I would.
00:09:51
Speaker 2: It's called hitting pay dirt. The fact is, Lion Amy Acton, who I've never even heard of before, has been lying about Vivek for the entire campaign. I know the real Vivek.
00:10:31
Speaker 1: Politics is something, man. Can we just need to get it over with, just get through the midterms? Is this what we're doing, baby? It seems like we hit new lows and this becomes the new standard. And so the next cycle around, none of this will even raise an eyebrow.
00:10:49
Speaker 2: That's sad to think. I didn't even consider that. That we're just making it worse and worse. And by the way, at a campaign rally in Iowa, Trump added to what he put on Truth Social, saying he told Ramaswamy to leave it up and look upstairs and say, thank you, God, very much. I appreciate it. I only wish I could have had an ad like that against somebody. That's what President Trump said to a crowd in Iowa.
00:11:16
Speaker 1: Um all we can do is tell you what he did say and look this is it's just i don't know and don't me no i don't know babe don't get mad it's just uh this is too bad i want him to do well i want people to look at the president united states and be inspired i mean kids black white they they not left and right yet everybody's looking to the office of the president united states it's something you aspire to aren't we supposed shouldn't we tell every kid you could be president one day. Don't we tell every kid to look up to that thing, that office, that standard. They're paying attention to how the president of the United States, that office is allowed to behave and how it's allowed to treat people. And, um, a kid was, a kid was raped.
00:12:02
Speaker 2: Her brother also attests to it.
00:12:04
Speaker 1: By the way. And, um, and we don't, and we're, all these ideas rose about believing women and, Here's a woman. We don't believe a child if politics gets in the way of it. We are dismissing very serious allegations just for the sake of winning an election. We are being dismissive of her entire story that has shaped her life for the sake of winning a gubernatorial race. We don't care what abuse a child suffered at. We don't care. This is, I mean, it's new lows and stunning and shocked. I don't feel anything but disappointment.
00:12:44
Speaker 2: It's disappointing.
00:12:45
Speaker 1: That's all bad.
00:12:46
Speaker 2: Look, some politicians have risen above it, and there are several Republicans. And again, these are Republicans, one of them in a current race right now who is still saying what he thinks is right. Well, you can still support the Republican candidate, Vivek Ramaswamy, but you can still condemn the actions he's taken and chosen to take to try and win said election. When we come back, we will tell you what many other Republicans have said about Vivek Ramaswamy's ad. Welcome back, everyone, to Amy and TJ. Look, this was a big deal. The current Ohio governor, who is a Republican, who has endorsed Vivek Ramaswamy, has come out and called the ad that we've been talking about against Amy Acton deeply, deeply troubling. His quote is, it's wrong to run this ad. And even at this late time, my wife, Fran, just saw the ad run this morning on TV. I would just urge the Ramaswamy campaign to take this down. He also talked about working with Acton because she worked as a public health, the public health official during COVID. He said, in regard to telling the truth, my experience with her, working closely with her every single day, she certainly told the truth in my experience. So he said that, and then at the same time said, I'm not withdrawing my support or my endorsement of Vivek Ramaswamy and the rest of the Republican ticket. He said, I stand by my endorsement, but the campaign ads have reached a new low. I do think there's a reasonable way to be able to say what you think, to call something wrong, and still say, I'm a Republican and I support this candidate.
00:14:35
Speaker 1: Yeah, there's nothing wrong with that. Isn't that what they say all the time? A lot of people had to hold their nose and vote for Trump even. knock yourselves out in what you feel. This is policy over people. What are you voting? Do you want to vote for a guy who has policies you like for your state? Do you want to vote for a guy who would do that kind of a thing? It's what you're trying to maybe balance. Some people can dismiss this. It's just politics. No big deal. What are you thinking about? It's two things. It sucks to be exploiting a family member. I mean, tragedy to these children to exploit that. The other part of that is just so misleading. You know who this woman is. You know she doesn't know Amy Acton at all.
00:15:16
Speaker 2: Misleading and exploitive. An exploitive of a child rape victim. Like, let's not look at her as a, what is she, 60-something years old woman? Let's not look at her as a grown woman. Let's look at her as a 12-year-old little girl because that is what we're talking about when it comes to the lying. Now, Ohio Senator John Husted is in the middle of his campaign, like he is up for re-election in the midterm as well, and he went on the record and said, I would not have run the ad. Former Governor John Kasich, who also ran for president, said his heart is bleeding. His quote was, it's completely inappropriate and has no place in American politics. It should be taken off the air and those responsible should apologize. Former Republican Senator Rob Portman from Ohio said the commercial crosses the line, called it an unfortunate example of the increasing incivility in the political arena. And even Ramaswamy's far right opponent in the Republican primary said he slammed the ad and said this has no place in politics. The only person I've heard other than Trump is J.D. Vance. And that's a bit of a disappointment. He wasn't as strong as Trump, but he basically said stop whining and just stop whining about an advertisement.
00:16:41
Speaker 1: Okay. I don't know if it's whining. Even that is dismissive of a child being raped. Exactly. All of that. I don't know, baby. At some point, we're supposed to all just, it's just politics. After November 3rd, everybody will shake hands and get along and we'll move back on. This is just a part of the cycle and the stakes are so high. But, Rosie, what did you use the words? I don't know who said it. A level of incivility, what did you just say?
00:17:04
Speaker 2: Oh, yeah. Yes. That came from the former senator of Ohio, Rob Portman.
00:17:11
Speaker 1: What's the line?
00:17:11
Speaker 2: He said, this is just another unfortunate example of the increasing incivility in the political arena.
00:17:17
Speaker 1: This one's different, baby. I would rather you look at somebody and yell and call them a bad name than to make light of or exploit childhood trauma. Robes. What worse can you do? You can murder somebody and molest a child. Those are like the worst things you can do.
00:17:37
Speaker 2: And in prison, I believe the lowest of the low, the scum of the prison population, are those who rape or abuse children. Period. Even murderers draw the line at that.
00:17:49
Speaker 1: I wish somebody would ask a direct question. Why is it you side with a woman who sided with a man indicted for raping her?
00:18:00
Speaker 2: To win an election is the only honest answer.
00:18:05
Speaker 1: Civility is that thing. Civility is not being civil is yelling and screaming. Not being decent is what he's doing. This is just a level of.
00:18:14
Speaker 2: Indecency.
00:18:15
Speaker 1: How can you look at a woman who was raped as a child and go, you liar. That's nothing. Let me go get your mama who knew you when you were 9 to 12 years old. I bet she'd say you're a bad kid. You lied on her husband. This good man over here.
00:18:30
Speaker 2: Had to flee to Pennsylvania.
00:18:32
Speaker 1: Yeah, because of you and your lies. And now you want to be governor? Say it. Say it out loud if that's what you believe. I'm okay with it. But other than that, you need to tell me why you choose to side with this woman. Yeah.
00:18:44
Speaker 2: I mean, look, I'd like to think that we as a country will learn our lessons. and not vote for certain types of tactics. But that would be very naive of me to say. But I can remain hopeful at this point. But this has gotten so ugly, it's hard to even get our heads around how low people are willing to go.
00:19:06
Speaker 1: Make it in. Go back to Michelle Obama, right? When they go low, we go high. I mean, we can try it all day long. But when they go low, apparently we go lower. And then they kind of go lower. And who can go the lowest?
00:19:20
Speaker 2: What is rock bottom? I shudder to see. I shudder to even imagine what could be lower than this. But we will continue because, yes, as we get closer to Election Day, I don't think things are going to get kinder. So we'll be following it all for you as folks make very important decisions at the poll. We always appreciate you listening to us. I'm Amy Robach alongside TJ Holmes. We'll talk to you soon.