Kaitlan Collins tears into Trump’s defense of Vivek Ramaswamy attack ad

Read the original at The Independent ↗
Cite

Sommerlad, J. (2026, October 23). Kaitlan Collins tears into Trump’s defense of Vivek Ramaswamy attack ad. The Independent. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-kaitlan-collins-vivek-ramaswamy-ohio-b3072190.html

Dated from the outlet's own feed. Check the original for its byline.

The Independent · collected 2026-10-23 · by Joe Sommerlad
Content note This article describes sexual violence.

Quick Summary

CNN journalist Kaitlan Collins criticizes former President Donald Trump for defending an attack advertisement by Republican candidate Vivek Ramaswamy against his gubernatorial rival Amy Acton. The controversial ad features Acton's estranged mother accusing her of lying about being raped as a child, and it has faced widespread backlash. During an appearance on CNN, Trump defended the ad, suggesting that such personal attacks would be considered newsworthy if they involved him or were covered differently by the media. Collins counters this defense by highlighting the serious nature of Acton's alleged abuse and questioning why these issues should not be addressed in political campaigns.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-23, using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the same event (that is the story summary below).

AI analysis runs on qwen2.5:14b, locally

Story summary

As of October 23, 2026, Republican gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy's campaign in Ohio is facing severe backlash for airing an advertisement featuring his Democratic rival Amy Acton’s estranged mother, Donna Arthur. In the ad, Arthur calls Acton a "liar" and urges voters not to support her in the upcoming election. The controversy intensified when President Donald Trump defended the ad at a rally, instructing Ramaswamy to keep airing it despite growing criticism from within his own party.

Acton has long alleged that she was raped by her stepfather as a child, leading to her and her brother being removed from their mother’s custody in 1978. Arthur refused to believe Acton's claims at the time and stayed with her husband until his death in 2004. The ad has drawn widespread condemnation for its insensitivity towards Acton's painful past, with even some Republicans urging Ramaswamy to take it down.

Despite the backlash, Ramaswamy’s campaign is doubling down on the controversial ad, pledging to spend an additional $4 million promoting it ahead of the November 3 election. The move has divided public opinion and raised questions about ethical campaigning in political races. CNN journalist Kaitlan Collins has sharply criticized Trump for defending the advertisement, highlighting its divisive impact on the campaign. The controversy continues to overshadow the race, with many questioning whether such deeply personal attacks are appropriate in politics.

Written for “Ramaswamy Ad Featuring Estranged Mother” on 2026-10-23, grounded in this article and the 23 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
The article's own words the score was based on. Each is quoted verbatim and was checked against the article text before being stored, so you can find it in the original.
Reading Leans left (beta estimate) Confidence high 1 quote(s) discarded as not found in the article
Leaning: leans left for article 102058 (high confidence, 2 verified quotes) · logged 2026-10-23

Story

📰 Ramaswamy Ad Featuring Estranged Mother
Politics · 24 article(s) covering the same event. Compare every outlet's account →

Compared with similar articles

This article reads leans left and hedges 0% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
Vivek Ramaswamy Is Defending Controversial Ad With Amy Acton's Mother different event · 95%
Reason
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 2 📰 publisher trust 67
“While both articles discuss Vivek Ramaswamy's controversial ad featuring Amy Acton's mother, they describe different aspects and contexts - one focuses on a discussion about the ad, while the other reports on Kaitlan Collins' critique of Trump defending the ad.”
Trump fiercely defends Vivek Ramaswamy's controversial attack ad against Amy Acton same event · 95%
CBS News
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 no claims extracted 📰 publisher trust 66
“Both articles discuss Trump defending Vivek Ramaswamy's controversial attack ad against Amy Acton on the same day.”
Ramaswamy pours $4 million into ad featuring Amy Acton’s estranged mother different event · 85%
Washington Examiner
⚖️ Centre further right than this 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 4 📰 publisher trust 66
“Article A describes Vivek Ramaswamy's campaign investing in and releasing a controversial ad featuring Amy Acton’s estranged mother, while Article B focuses on Kaitlan Collins criticizing President Trump for defending the same ad. Although both articles discuss the same ad, they describe different specific events occurring at distinct times.”
Attack ad in Ohio governor's race sparks debate on how low is too low different event · 85%
CBS News
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 3 📰 publisher trust 66
“While both articles discuss an attack ad in Ohio's gubernatorial race, Article A focuses on the controversy sparked by the ad itself, while Article B discusses a critique of President Trump defending Ramaswamy for the ad.”
Vivek Ramaswamy slams news media for ‘lying’ about Amy Acton ad different event · 80%
Washington Examiner
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 7 📰 publisher trust 66
“Article A reports on Kaitlan Collins' critique of Trump's defense of Ramaswamy's ad, while Article B reports on Vivek Ramaswamy addressing a crowd about the media backlash against his ad. Although related, they describe different specific events.”
Ramaswamy sees betting odds plummet over controversial ad using opponent’s mother different event · 60%
The Independent
⚖️ Leans strongly left further left than this 🔴 11% hedged 2 of 19 📰 publisher trust 59
“Article A describes the initial release of the controversial ad featuring Amy Acton's mother on October 21, while Article B discusses a critique by Kaitlan Collins about President Trump defending Ramaswamy over the same ad, which happened later.”
'Stop whining': Vance reacts to outrage over Ramaswamy campaign ad – video different event · 60%
The Guardian
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 5 📰 publisher trust 69
“While both articles discuss reactions to Ramaswamy's controversial campaign ad, Article A focuses on JD Vance criticizing Republicans' outrage, while Article B centers on Kaitlan Collins critiquing President Trump for defending the ad.”
Vance tells Republicans to 'stop whining' about controversial Ohio attack ad different event · 60%
BBC News
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 3% hedged 1 of 38 📰 publisher trust 69
“While both articles discuss the controversial attack ad featuring Amy Acton's estranged mother, Article A focuses on VP JD Vance's remarks to Republicans about the ad, while Article B highlights CNN journalist Kaitlan Collins' critique of President Trump's defense of the ad.”
Vivek Ramaswamy’s Vicious Attack Ad May Backfire different event · 60%
The Dispatch
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 2 📰 publisher trust 61
“Article A discusses reactions to Vivek Ramaswamy's attack ad and related political discussions, while Article B focuses on Kaitlan Collins' critique of President Trump defending the ad.”
Ohio ad featuring Amy Acton’s estranged mother backfires on Ramaswamy campaign different event · 50%
Washington Examiner
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 25% hedged 1 of 4 📰 publisher trust 66
“The articles discuss different aspects of the same political situation but do not describe the same specific incident.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
23
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
0%
0 of 23 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
Leans left
of the writing, not the subject · beta estimate
Publisher signals
59/100
The Independent's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
24
Politics
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-10-23 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

The Independent · 2944 article(s) · 6 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 6 correction(s)
2026-10-19
Republican candidate forced out of race after suspected drunk driving crash leaves car overturned
2026-10-08
Hurricane Isaias update: Gulf Coast braces for life-threatening storm surge
2026-10-03
Prison chief to resign after shock botched execution of Christa Pike
2026-09-22
Costa Rican man complained of lack of care for diabetes before his death in ICE custody, family says
2026-09-17
Killer who gunned down famed Elvis impersonator set to be executed tonight
2026-09-04
Pennsylvania confirms second death of child with measles after RFK Jr. told CDC director to delete numbers

Who wrote this

Joe Sommerlad
52 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 In one exchange, Trump was asked whether personal matters should be “off limits” when campaigning and mused with a grin: “I know one thing: if my mother said that about me, it would be a major news story.
2026-10-23 · assertive framing · Kaitlan Collins tears into Trump’s defense of Vivek Ramaswamy attack ad
🔮 The opposition has been widely predicted to win back the House of Representatives at next month’s midterms, which would see it regain control of its powerful investigative committees and enable its members to make life much more difficult for President Donald Trump’s administration.
2026-10-22 · mixed framing · Pentagon whistleblowers ready to ‘spill their guts’ to oust Hegseth after midterms: report
🔮 In a letter from Counsel to the President William Scharf to Politico’s Global Editor-in-Chief Jonathan Greenberger dated Monday, the outlet is accused of publishing “a series of demonstrably false and defamatory articles in an apparent effort to manufacture a narrative of dysfunction and infighting in the White House” while ignoring denials from senior officials and Trump himself.
2026-10-22 · assertive framing · White House demands Politico retracts articles and apologize to Trump or ‘face the consequences’: report
🔮 Log in President Donald Trump’s decision to hit the road to campaign ahead of November’s midterms has been met with a mixed reception from political strategists, with some wishing he would keep a lower profile.
2026-10-21 · assertive framing · ‘All he’s doing is hurting Republicans’: Some strategists beg Trump to stay in White House and not campaign
🔮 The latest pre-midterms poll from The Washington Post/ABC News/Ipsos put the president’s approval rating at just 33 percent and found that 37 percent of the public would rather see a Democrat in charge of the economy.
2026-10-20 · assertive framing · Inflation has hit a new group of goods: Trump merch
🔮 “Zacharia’s real sin may have been to irritate the wrong people.”
2026-10-20 · mixed framing · Katie Zacharia reveals her biggest lessons from doomed White House press secretary stint
🔮 The Washington Sun reports the policy could even see the Treasury hire private debt collectors to help reclaim the money from former students who are behind on their obligations.
2026-10-20 · mixed framing · Trump team ready to fine Americans who default on their student loan payments: report
🔮 Other comments went on to suggest the pictures may have been altered using photoshop or AI.
2026-10-19 · assertive framing · Katie Zacharia ripped for ‘photoshopped’ pic of her family in the Oval Office
🔮 He added that the MPD’s Internal Affairs and Criminal Investigations divisions were on the scene and that there was no further threat to the public. Chief Carroll said the suspect was the only participant in the shooting but that investigators would still like to speak to the other participants in the initial witnesses, who fled the scene when the shooting began, and any other eyewitnesses who could elaborate on how it started. The incident comes almost a year on from the shooting of two members of the West Virginia National Guard in D.C. Specialist Sarah Beckstrom, 20, and Staff Sergeant Andrew Wolfe 24 – part of President Donald Trump’s federal deployment of Guardsmen to Washington – were fired on in an ambush near Farragut West metro station on November 26, 2025, just two blocks northwest of the White House.
2026-10-19 · assertive framing · National Guardsman injured in DC shooting after attempting to break up street fight
🔮 Trump endorsed the state AG in May – helping him to beat the incumbent, Sen. John Cornyn, in the GOP primary – despite reportedly being warned against doing so by advisers in light of the candidate’s history of scandal in public office.
2026-10-13 · mixed framing · Trump’s floundering Senate pick partied in Dubai with mistress and two US fugitives: report
Also by Joe Sommerlad
Trump presented with made-up ‘Man of the Century Award’ by Republican candidate at Iowa rally
2026-10-23 · The Independent
Pentagon whistleblowers ready to ‘spill their guts’ to oust Hegseth after midterms: report
2026-10-22 · The Independent
White House demands Politico retracts articles and apologize to Trump or ‘face the consequences’: report
2026-10-22 · The Independent
‘All he’s doing is hurting Republicans’: Some strategists beg Trump to stay in White House and not campaign
2026-10-21 · The Independent
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 52 articles by Joe Sommerlad →

Topics

CNN GOP Independent Ohio Republican

Subjects

Ramaswamy PERSON · 6× Trump PERSON · 5× Acton PERSON · 4× Ohio GPE · 4× Collins PERSON · 3× GOP ORG · 3× Arthur PERSON · 2× Republican NORP · 2× Vivek Ramaswamy PERSON · 2× Independent NORP · 1×

Narrative

A clearly disgusted Collins closed her segment by showing Trump’s latest comments at his rally in Sioux City Thursday evening, at which he told the crowd Ramaswamy had called him seeking advice on whether or not to pull the ad because he was “getting killed in the press.” “So I told him, leave it up and look upstairs and say, ‘Thank you God, very much, I appreciate it,’” the president said he had answered, wishing an equivalent opportunity had fallen into his own lap.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-23
🔮 In one exchange, Trump was asked whether personal matters should be “off limits” when campaigning and mused with a grin: “I know one thing: if my mother said that about me, it would be a major news story.
2026-10-23 · The Independent
Kaitlan Collins tears into Trump’s defense of Vivek Ramaswamy attack ad · assertive framing

Claims (23 extracted, 0 hedged)

Log in CNN journalist Kaitlan Collins has delivered a searing critique of President Donald Trump for defending Ohio GOP gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy’s widely reviled attack ad on rival Amy Acton featuring her estranged mother. asserted
Collins → log → mother
Acton, 60, has said she was raped by her stepfather when she was 12 years old and has not spoken to her mother, Donna Arthur, since 1978 after the latter refused to believe her and instead sided with her husband, whom she stayed with, even after he was charged, until his death in 2004. asserted
he → say → 2004
The TV spot in question shows Arthur accusing her daughter of being “a liar” and warning the people of Ohio not to vote for her. asserted
Arthur → show → her
It has attracted an angry reaction from the public as well as from politicians on both sides of the aisle, with one man furiously rebuking Ramaswamy at a rally this week. asserted
man → attract → rally
The candidate’s campaign has so far doubled down and pledged to invest a further $4 million promoting the ad. asserted
campaign → double → ad
Introducing Thursday’s episode of The Source, Collins noted that Ohio’s GOP leaders had been distancing themselves from the ad and commented: “It’s actually kind of hard to find a prominent Republican who is defending the ad other than Vivek Ramaswamy himself, Vice President JD Vance and, quite fervently today, President Trump.” asserted
who → introduce → Ramaswamy
She then cut to clips of the president taking questions on the matter at the White House earlier in the day to which he initially responded by saying, “Well, I know nothing about it,” before pivoting to a defense of the legitimacy of Ramaswamy’s tactics. asserted
I → cut → tactics
In one exchange, Trump was asked whether personal matters should be “off limits” when campaigning and mused with a grin: “I know one thing: if my mother said that about me, it would be a major news story. asserted
it → ask → me
You would have hit gold. asserted
You → hit → gold
The president was then asked about Iowa GOP Senate candidate Ashley Hinson, with whom he was set to campaign that evening, calling the ad “absolutely terrible” and saying it should be taken down, which he shrugged off by saying: “That’s her opinion.” asserted
That → ask → which
Trump then said he was defending Ramaswamy because of media double standards, insisting the press was attempting to “make it look like a horrible thing” and would have relished such an ad if it had been made about him, adding: “This is a mother saying very bad things about her daughter, and I don’t know why that should be shielded.” asserted
that → say → daughter
Back in the studio, Collins commented: “The ‘horrible thing’ that the press has been covering is that, first off, something the Ramaswamy campaign has made an issue here and has brought to the forefront; it is that Acton’s stepfather was indicted for raping her when she was 12 years old; it’s her opponent’s campaign that is airing that ad with her estranged mother calling her a liar.” asserted
mother → comment → her
The host then cut to a clip of herself pressing the president on the issue as part of a press gaggle, at which Trump repeated his point of view, dismissed Acton’s own account of the abuse she suffered and insisted her past was “fair game” because she was running for high office. asserted
she → cut → office
Collins then drew attention to the president’s subsequent Truth Social attack on Ohio’s incumbent Republican governor Mike DeWine, who had called the ad “deeply, deeply troubling” and urged Ramaswamy’s campaign to take it down. asserted
who → draw → it
In the post, Trump called DeWine a “RINO” and “disloyal,” lamented having helped him win election asserted
him → call → DeWine
speculated: “He probably wants a Dumocrat to win, and certainly doesn’t want someone who will do a much better job than he is capable of doing. asserted
he → speculate → job
The president also said in the post he had advised Ramaswamy to “keep it up” and applauded Arthur for being “so brave as to come forward,” again accepting her comments at face value without heeding Acton’s side. asserted
he → say → side
“The Press is trying to convince everyone the Ad is bad, because it’s so good!” he wrote. asserted
he → try → everyone
“Who wouldn’t use such an ad? asserted
Who → use → ad
I would, it’s called ‘hitting pay dirt.’” asserted
it → call → dirt
A clearly disgusted Collins closed her segment by showing Trump’s latest comments at his rally in Sioux City Thursday evening, at which he told the crowd Ramaswamy had called him seeking advice on whether or not to pull the ad because he was “getting killed in the press.” “So I told him, leave it up and look upstairs and say, ‘Thank you God, very much, I appreciate it,’” the president said he had answered, wishing an equivalent opportunity had fallen into his own lap. asserted
opportunity → disgust → lap
The latest Marist poll shows Acton leading Ramaswamy by seven points, on 50 percent of the vote to 43 percent, with his betting odds plummeting since the furore erupted. asserted
furore → show → percent
The president lashed out at Collins earlier this week when she asked him about a decision to waive sanctions on Russia, calling her “a low-IQ person” and a “dummy,” and has previously urged her to smile more. asserted
she → lash → her
💬Give feedback
🕘History 🎫Support
Terms · Privacy · beta v2.0.0
Articles to 23 Oct 2026