Republican Ohio governor candidate Vivek Ramaswamy is facing backlash after an undated campaign video posted to his X account showed him mocking Democratic rival Amy Acton’s response to childhood abuse. In the clip, Ramaswamy said he had “a positive vision for our state versus a governor who has none at all other than to complain about what someone else did to her.”
The attack landed on a deeply personal part of Acton’s past. Acton, a former Ohio Health Department director, was sexually abused as a child by her stepfather, and she and her mother were forced to live in a tent on the streets of Youngstown because of the abuse. She has had therapy for years because of the trauma, making Ramaswamy’s comments a fresh flashpoint in the ohio governor race.
Phil Stein, Acton’s campaign manager, called it shameful that Ramaswamy’s allies were going after someone for seeking treatment after being sexually abused as a child. He also said Acton was disgusted that Ramaswamy would do anything other than stand with childhood survivors of sexual assault, underscoring how quickly the contest has shifted from policy to character and pain.
The exchange comes after a campaign in which Ramaswamy has already had to walk back or explain several controversial positions. He entered the race after wanting the U.S. Senate seat opened when JD Vance became vice president, only to see Mike DeWine appoint Jon Husted instead. Now he is trying to cast himself as the candidate of optimism, even as his own attacks on Acton risk undercutting that message.
The larger political problem for Ramaswamy is that he is running in a state where Donald Trump won by 11 percentage points at the time referenced in the article, but Trump’s favorability numbers in Ohio are currently under water. That makes the MAGA brand a less certain asset in a statewide race than it once looked, and it leaves Ramaswamy trying to balance loyalty to that movement with the broader appeal he will need to win in November.
