Ramaswamy defends attack ad featuring opponent's estranged mother

Vivek Ramaswamy Defends Vile Attack Ad Featuring Opponent's Estranged Mother

Vivek Ramaswamy won't take credit for a vile campaign advertisement featuring his opponent Amy Acton's estranged mother—but he's more than happy to defend it.

The Ohio GOP gubernatorial nominee's team released a statement Tuesday championing an ugly attack ad featuring Donna Arthur, who lost custody of Acton after years of documented issues, including homelessness and sexual abuse by a stepfather.

"We don't know what happened between Amy and her mother, who spoke out about Amy in 2020, but we know that Amy Acton is a serial fabulist who has some serious problems with the truth that the public needs to be aware of before deciding who to entrust as governor," said Connie Luck, a spokesperson for Ramaswamy.

In a video first obtained by The Rooster, a local political blog in Ohio, Arthur accused her daughter of lying about her upbringing, specifically that her family had been homeless.

"She lies about her past. She says she grew up living in a tent. None of that is true. She's lied her entire life," Arthur said, adding: "Don't vote for people who lie. Don't let her become your governor. If you think she'll make your life better, you're fooling yourself. It will only get worse."

In 1978, Arthur's husband, Cledith "Bud" Arthur, was charged and indicted for rape. Court documents indicate he'd engaged in sexual contact with Acton when she was less than 13 years old. In a 2019 interview, Acton said that she'd been sexually abused between the ages of nine and 12. After her stepfather pleaded guilty, he skipped bail, and Arthur left town with him, Acton said.

The advertisement doesn't include the typical political disclosures, isn't running on television, and isn't being pushed on social media or search engines. Rather, it is being solely championed by right-wing influencers who are foaming at the mouth for the chance to smear Acton's character.

It's still not clear who produced the video, but Acton appeared certain that she knows who's really behind it.

"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, sexual abuse," she said in a television interview Tuesday, referring to Ramaswamy. "The words our leaders use matter, and I think it's going to take courage right now, from all of us, to stop normalizing this sort of rhetoric."

Ramaswamy previously blasted Acton for discussing the abuse, claiming Ohio needs someone with "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."

Acton's brother Philip Stearns also condemned the ad. "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," Stearns said in a statement.

"After he was arrested and Amy and I were removed from their custody, our birth mother stayed married to Amy's rapist until he died. This desperate, disgusting attack reveals exactly who Vivek Ramaswamy is at his core—a pathetic excuse for a man who is willing to hurt anyone as long as it gets him what he wants."

Read more about Ramaswamy:

• Vivek Ramaswamy Features Sex Offender in Campaign Ad

Trump Baselessly Claims Somalis Have Ruined Minnesota's Lakes

Donald Trump seems to be under the impression that Minnesota's Somali population has affected the state's lake count.

Speaking with reporters at the White House Tuesday, the president lamented that Minnesota had hundreds of lakes—until the Somalis arrived.

"They've ruined a great state," Trump said, referring to the Land of 10,000 Lakes. "You know I remember Minnesota in the old days, what a beautiful, beautiful, with lakes all over the place, they had more lakes than any place I've ever seen. It was so beautiful.

"They're destroying it, probably, maybe they've destroyed it," Trump continued, referring to the Somali immigrant community. "And I only hope a Republican woman who happens to be very respected by everybody gets in because you will see a difference."

Trump was likely referring to Lisa Demuth, who is running in Minnesota's gubernatorial election against Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar.

But the nonsensical conjecture emerged in the midst of a lengthy rant against Minnesota Representative Ilhan Omar, during which the president warned that the congresswoman could be deported or "go to jail" if evidence emerges that her father inaccurately reported her age on a citizenship application nearly three decades ago. Trump slammed Omar as a "sick" and "very dishonest person who hates our country."

"She comes from a country that is essentially not even a country," Trump said, referring to Somalia. "It's a real shithouse.… Then she comes over here and she wants to tell us how to run America.

"She's a disgrace to our country, and it's amazing she can get elected, but Somalians vote for her," Trump continued, using the wrong term for Somalis.

Trump then proceeded to disparage America's Somali immigrant population, baselessly projecting that 98 percent of Somalis in the country "don't work."

"Most of them shouldn't be here," Trump said. "It's a disgrace. It's a disgrace."

Read more about Trump:

• Trump, 80, Wanders Off While Waving and Saluting to No One

Suspicious Mailers From Nonexistent Trans Rights Group Target Texas Voters

Suspicious mailers from a nonexistent trans rights group are showing up in voters' mailboxes in Texas ahead of the midterms.

Some residents have received pamphlets and fliers from the "Texas Transgender Student Union," a made-up organization, advising them on how to emancipate from their parents and receive out-of-state medical care. The pamphlets seem to be leaning into right-wing hysteria over gender-affirming care for minors.

The branding on the flyers mimics that of the real-life Transgender Education Network of Texas, which disavowed the mailings in a statement on its website.

"We are aware of text messages and now physical mailers that have been circulated concerning TENT that appear to have been issued by or on behalf of the organization," the website states. "These text messages and mailers were not authored, authorized, approved, or distributed by TENT and are not affiliated with our organization. The texts do not represent the official position or communications of the organization."

Republicans across the Lone Star State who received the literature, which seems to be specifically targeting them, are falling for the ragebait.

The mailings include an "LGBTQ+ Student Resource Guide" flyer that has resources and websites aimed at helping transgender youth. The Concho Observer, an independent local news outlet based in San Angelo, Texas, found that the address provided for the Texas Transgender Student Union is a UPS Store in Flower Mound, Texas.

The Observer estimates that sending the mailings would cost between $3 million and $4.4 million, proving that they must have been part of a deliberate political operation. Tech billionaire Elon Musk has already poured nearly $190 million into the Texas Senate race, and has engaged in shady, legally gray tactics before. He, or another Republican megadonor, is likely responsible for the mailers.

The flyers come after suspicious text messages seemingly impersonating TENT went out to Texans last week purporting to offer help about gender-affirming care in the state and provide guides to "bathrooms and beyond for trans kids at school." The organization sent out a cease and desist notice to two digital messaging companies to halt the campaign.

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Trump Offers Up to $30,000 for Fraud Tips While Ignoring His Own Administration's Fraud

President Trump is offering up to $30,000 to anyone who calls in a tip pertaining to government fraud—all while turning a blind eye to the fraud being committed by his administration.

Trump made the announcement about the Justice Department's new $25 million anti-fraud program on Tuesday afternoon alongside Vice President JD Vance, White House adviser Stephen Miller, Dr. Mehmet Oz, and right-wing provocateur Nick Shirley.

Trump explained the new program while handing a $10,000 check to Shirley, a 24-year-old YouTuber who gained notoriety for a shoddy investigation into Somali daycare centers in Minnesota that led to an increase in racist attacks on that community, culminating in the recent raid on the home of Somali American Democratic Representative Ilhan Omar.

The website seeking tips is Fraud.gov.

"If anybody turns anybody in [for fraud of] a billion dollars, $5 billion, $100 billion, you get a 1 percent commission," Trump promised during the announcement. "The kind of money that's been stolen is trillions from this country, by crooked politicians that made things, and set things up.… I can name all of them.

"All of those people that are willing to do the right thing and turn people in … they're gonna become rich. When you get 1 percent of a billion dollars, 1 percent of a hundred billion dollars, it's gonna be a tremendous amou—"

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