Even MAGA Trolls Apologize for Posting Twisted Attack Ad

Jeff Swensen / Getty Images Shamed MAGA trolls have started an online apology tour after sharing a twisted attack ad on a Democratic candidate.

Trump-endorsed Ohio Republican candidate Vivek Ramaswamy is taking on Democrat Amy Acton to become the next governor of Ohio, with a Marist Poll released Tuesday showing Acton leading among Ohio likely voters at 50 percent, with Ramaswamy trailing at 43 percent.

As the gubernatorial race between them nears, a problematic political ad surfaced online on Monday that exploited Acton’s traumatic childhood.

In the 60-second ad, first obtained by The Rooster , Acton’s estranged mother, Donna Arthur, called the Democrat a “liar,” and warned voters her daughter has “a serious problem.” Pod Save America co-host Jon Lovett called it “maybe the most disgusting political ad in living memory,” in an X post.

The content of the disturbing ad was addressed by Acton.

In a statement posted to Facebook on Tuesday, she accused her birth mother of doing “nothing to protect me” when “between the ages of 10 and 12, I was sexually abused by her husband.” “I won’t normalize somebody who has said that my childhood is ‘something I’m just complaining about,’ who today, just released an ad using my birth mother, who I was removed from at the age of 12 for severe abuse and neglect and sexual abuse,” Acton told Spectrum News of Ramaswamy’s campaign ad, while noting her brother, Philip Stearns, was also removed.

Stearns released his own statement saying, “It’s not surprising that Vivek Ramaswamy has stooped to such a despicable low as to attempt to turn the sexual abuse Amy endured at twelve years old from our birth mother’s husband into a political talking point.” The Republican’s campaign confirmed to Axios that it had produced the ad, which it spent $4 million to promote from Tuesday night.

That is despite the backlash over the content, with Ramaswamy’s team warned that it could play badly after the Epstein files returned child sexual abuse to the national conversation.

Sources close to Ramaswamy’s campaign said the ad had tested well with “persuadable” voters, according to Axios.

Multiple pro-Trump accounts quickly seized on the ad to attack Acton, calling it a “bombshell” and a “huge surprise.” One MAGA social media user posted on X , “I was WRONG I need to offer an apology to Amy Acton, and condemn Vivek’s actions in regard to the ad featuring Amy’s mother.

After a minimal amount of research, it appears Amy’s story regarding her abuse is true.

I should have dug deeper into her allegations before posting any opinion on this.

I am sorry.” The post continued, “With that said, if I can take 5 minutes to verify her story, Vivek’s team should have done the same BEFORE running this ad.