Trump Orders GOP to Own Ad Targeting Abuse Survivor

President Donald Trump told Ohio gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy to leave up an attack ad built around the alleged sexual abuse of his Democratic opponent, Amy Acton, then urged the rest of his party to fall in line behind it. He said so Thursday night at an Iowa rally, where he told the crowd that Ramaswamy had called him for advice on whether to take the ad down. "Look upstairs and say thank you, God, very much. I appreciate it," Trump recalled saying to Ramaswamy.

The ad features Acton's estranged mother calling her a liar. Acton has said she hasn't seen her mother since she was 12 years old, when her mother lost custody of her children and the man she married was indicted for allegedly sexually abusing Acton. The ad seeks to weaponize a situation involving alleged child sexual abuse, and it has rubbed many GOP officeholders the wrong way, from both a moral and a political perspective.

The President's Position

In a social media post earlier Thursday, Trump praised the mother for having the "courage" to speak out against her daughter. He attacked Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, one of the Republicans criticizing the ad, as "disloyal to the Republican Party."

When reporters raised his fellow Republicans' concern about a situation involving alleged child sex abuse, Trump said twice that he knew "nothing about" the backstory between Acton and her mother. He argued the mother had to be taken "seriously" regardless. "Even if it's a little bit true, you don't want her as governor," Trump said.

Party Discipline Versus Party Discomfort

The pressure runs against a growing list of Republicans who want the ad gone. Iowa GOP Senate candidate Rep. Ashley Hinson became the latest to call for its removal Thursday afternoon. She told ABC News it was "absolutely terrible" for Acton to have "to relive that trauma." Sen. Jon Husted and other Ohio Republicans have also spoken out against it.

Trump's own circle has faced similar material. Pete Hegseth, whom Trump made Defense secretary, was the subject of a 2018 email from his mother saying he "belittles, lies, cheats, sleeps around and uses women for his own power and ego," according to a New York Times report. Hegseth's mother disowned those sentiments and defended her son during his confirmation process.

The Electoral Math

Ramaswamy trails by around five points in the average of recent quality polling. It's too early to see credible polling on what Ohioans or Americans think of the ad. The last comparable ad from family members of a midterm candidate was a 2018 ad featuring Arizona GOP Rep. Paul Gosar's six siblings all denouncing him. He went from 71% of the vote in 2016 to 68% in 2018. That ad did not involve credible abuse allegations.

CNN's analysis states that Trump is asking his party to own something it's clearly very uncomfortable owning, just to help one candidate who might or might not benefit from it. It adds that Trump clearly doesn't share the qualms about the morality of the ad. The analysis draws comparisons to Trump's reaction to the Epstein files and his repeated floating of a pardon for convicted child sex-trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell, and says praising the "courage" of Acton's mother is in line with that.

CNN's analysis also lists other unpopular items Trump has asked his party to deal with: tariffs, the Iran war, taxpayer-funded political ads, and his talk about inflation and the economy.