Mother Turns Against Daughter Who Survived Sexual Abuse: Ohio Turns on Ramaswamy as Restaurants Cancel His Events

Editor's Note: We have deliberately decided not to show Vivek Ramaswamy's campaign ad. Out of respect for Amy Acton, we are also choosing not to publish photographs of her as a child. A child's experiences of sexual abuse should not be put on public display again decades later. To us, this is a matter of decency and journalistic responsibility.

Amy Acton was 12 years old when her stepfather, Cledith "Bud" Arthur, was arrested on allegations that he had raped her. Her mother stayed with her husband. The children were removed from her custody. Arthur evaded prosecution by disappearing with his wife. Donna Arthur remained married to him until his death. Nearly 5 decades later, that same woman is sitting in front of a camera, declaring that her daughter is a liar. The message is being spread at the expense of Republican Vivek Ramaswamy's campaign, as he seeks to become governor of Ohio. His team plans to spend $4 million on it. A childhood documented in court records has now become the subject of a paid political humiliation.

The attack targets a woman who, by her own account, has not seen her mother since she was 12 years old. Acton, a physician and former director of the Ohio Department of Health, has spoken publicly about the poverty and violence of her childhood. Her brother, Philip Stearns, confirmed their experiences of abuse. He said he had endured a great deal of violence himself, but Amy had always suffered the worst of it. His sister had tried to protect him. In 1978, her stepfather was charged with allegedly raping the girl. He denied the accusation but evaded prosecution. As a result, he was never convicted. The children were left behind.

Read also our article: "Quiet!" - Trump Doesn't Want to Hear About the Rape of a 12-Year-Old Girl and Praises the Mother Who Didn't Believe Her Own Child

Donna Arthur is now denying essential parts of that past on camera. Amy has a serious problem, she claims, lies about her childhood, and needs help herself. The very woman whose decisions back then led to her children being taken from her is now being used by Ramaswamy's campaign as a witness against her daughter's credibility. The reasons for the decades of silence between them are missing from the ad. Viewers are supposed to see a mother passing judgment on her grown daughter. The fact that this child once had to grow up without her would presumably do considerable damage to the intended effect.

On October 19, 2026, the footage initially appeared online without any clear indication of who was behind it. Shortly afterward, Ramaswamy's campaign confirmed responsibility. The planned expenditure of $4 million shows just how much political value the campaign places on this attack. Ramaswamy subsequently declared that his advertisement had absolutely nothing to do with childhood sexual abuse. His opponent was spreading lies, he claimed, and that was what mattered. A remarkably carefully drawn line of silence from a man who has just made the mother of a woman allegedly raped as a child the centerpiece of his campaign ad.

Vivek Ramaswamy offers a downright pathetic justification for his despicable campaign ad against Amy Acton: "Politics is a tough sport. You point out where you think your opponents are flawed." What flaw is he talking about? That Acton says she was raped by her stepfather when she was 12 years old? That her mother stayed with the man charged with rape and abandoned her children? That is exactly the mother Ramaswamy put in front of a camera to publicly portray her own daughter as a liar. And now he calls it the ordinary rough-and-tumble of political competition. He apparently considers the humiliation of a woman whose childhood was scarred by sexual violence to be just another part of campaigning. There are no decent words for this justification. There is, however, a word for what Ramaswamy is doing: depravity.

Philip Stearns responded without mincing words. Ramaswamy had turned the sexual abuse of his sister by their mother's husband into a political attack. Donna Arthur had remained with the man even after his arrest. Stearns described the candidate as a despicable man who would hurt other people as long as doing so helped him get what he wanted. His words carry particular weight because he grew up with Amy and knows the family circumstances of that time from his own experience. The siblings cannot escape their past. Now they have to watch a political campaign turn it against them all over again.

Ohio's Republican governor, Mike DeWine, described the ad as deeply disturbing and called for it to be taken down. He knows Acton from her time as director of the Ohio Department of Health under his administration. Former governors from both parties joined the criticism. DeWine, however, continues to support Ramaswamy. He condemns the method while keeping his political support firmly behind the man responsible. A peculiar division of conscience that apparently comes more easily in election campaigns than in ordinary human dealings.

Donald Trump publicly defended the ad and called it highly effective. Vice President JD Vance also backed Ramaswamy. Vance even declared that the criticism of the campaign ad from fellow Republicans disgusted him. Apparently, the concern some Republicans have over the treatment of a woman who describes being sexually abused as a child upsets the vice president more than the decision to put her estranged mother in front of a camera to attack her. Ramaswamy himself still refuses to withdraw the ad.

In Cleveland, the editorial board of a nearly 200-year-old newspaper broke with its earlier decision not to endorse a candidate in the governor's race. On October 25, it explicitly endorsed Amy Acton. Using childhood sexual abuse against the person who endured it crossed a line that people should defend regardless of their political affiliation, the editors explained. The political fight had reached a point where even editorial restraint was no longer considered an adequate response.

Protesters are now also gathering outside Ramaswamy's campaign appearances. Their signs accuse him of exploiting child sexual abuse to win votes. Restaurants face pressure as soon as they host the candidate. Venues are receiving bad online reviews. An anonymous Republican Party official reported that people were calling and saying they did not want Ramaswamy at their establishments.

Numerous restaurants have already taken action. Elliot's Wood Fired Kitchen in Newark canceled a planned event. The Old Dog Ale House & Brewery in Delaware also withdrew its agreement to host him. For another Republican Party event scheduled for Tuesday, the venue is now listed simply as "to be announced." Ramaswamy apparently finds it increasingly difficult to secure a place where he can sell his politics without interruption. His campaign has publicly torn open a family wound dating back to 1978. Now even restaurant owners have to decide whether they want to open their doors to it.

Ohio votes on November 3. The campaign ad is still running. Donna Arthur publicly accuses her daughter of lying, while her son confirms his sister's history of abuse. Trump and Vance defend the Republican candidate. The family whose story Ramaswamy has used in his advertisement has to live with the consequences. A person can be damaged on a screen in 60 seconds. Nobody can give back the years behind those images.