Amy Acton, the Democratic candidate for governor in Ohio, has been estranged from her mother for decades following allegations that her husband sexually abused her daughter, then stood by him in court and allegedly abandoned Acton and her brother.
uncertain
husband → estrange → Acton
Acton hasn’t seen or spoken to her mother since that day in court in 1978.
asserted
Acton → see → 1978
But Acton’s mom resurfaced in a political attack ad from a group supporting Vivek Ramaswamy, the Donald Trump-backed Republican candidate in a closely watched and growingly volatile race.
asserted
mom → resurface → race
In the ad, Acton’s mother Donna Arthur tells voters, “Don’t let her become your governor.
asserted
her → tell → voters
If you think she’ll make your life better, you’re fooling yourself.”
asserted
you → think → yourself
A statement from Acton’s campaign called the “platforming” of her “estranged and abusive mother” a “despicable low.”
asserted
platforming → call → mother
“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 12 years old from our birth mother’s husband into a political talking point
asserted
Amy → stoop → point
,” Acton’s brother Philip Stearns said in a statement Tuesday.
asserted
brother → say → 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,” he added.
asserted
he → arrest → rapist
“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,” Stearns said.
asserted
Stearns → reveal → what
On the campaign trail and as the director of the Ohio Department of Health, Acton has discussed what he has described as a troubled childhood, including surviving homelessness and sexual abuse from her stepfather.
asserted
he → discuss → stepfather
In 2019, she told the Ohio newspaper The Vindicator that she was sexually abused between the ages of 9 and 12, when, in 1978, her stepfather was charged with rape and indicted by a grand jury.
asserted
stepfather → tell → jury
He pleaded not guilty.
asserted
He → plead → ?
Arthur, Acton’s mother, has denied that her husband sexually abused Acton but acknowledged in a separate 2020 interview that she supported her husband during the proceedings, borrowed money to hire an attorney — and then left town with him after his indictment.
asserted
she → deny → indictment
In the pro-Ramaswamy attack ad, Arthur does not mention her daughter’s allegations of abuse but calls her a “liar” with a “serious problem.”
asserted
Arthur → mention → problem
“She lies about her past,” Arthur says in the ad.
asserted
Arthur → lie → ad
“She says she grew up living in a tent.
asserted
she → say → tent
She’s lied her entire life.
asserted
She → lie → ?
My daughter needs help, and she can’t help you if she needs help herself.”
asserted
she → need → help
In an interview on Tuesday, Acton said she refuses to “normalize” Ramaswamy’s campaign.
asserted
she → say → campaign
“I won’t normalize somebody who says 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 Ohio’s Spectrum News.
asserted
Acton → normalize → News
“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,” she said of Ramaswamy.
asserted
she → use → Ramaswamy
“People need to see this is a pattern.”
asserted
this → need → ?
It’s unclear who is responsible for the ad, which does not include a disclaimer stating who paid for it.
uncertain
who → ’ → it
In a statement to The Independent, Ramaswamy’s campaign did not distance itself from the ad or claim credit for it.
uncertain
campaign → distance → it
Ohio Democratic Rep. Greg Landsman called it “one of the most despicable things I’ve ever seen in politics.”
asserted
I → call → politics
“He’s arguably the most unlikable person in the history of people… because of stuff like this,” he wrote.
asserted
he → ’ → this
“By the end of the day, Ohioans will learn what [happened] to Amy as a 12-year old girl, how her mother lost custody of Amy as a result, and what a disgrace Vivek is for pulling this.”
asserted
Vivek → learn → this
Meghan McCain called the ad “dastardly” and said “it should have been created.”
“Shame on whatever consultant firm created this,” she wrote.
asserted
she → call → this
Asked for a response to the backlash, a spokesperson for Ramaswamy’s campaign called Acton 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.”
asserted
public → ask → governor
Connie Luck, a spokesperson for Ramaswamy’s campaign, told The Independent that “everyone who knows her best,” including her mother, “are clearly warning Ohioans not to vote for her.”
asserted
who → tell → her
“Ohioans deserve to know that,” Luck said in a statement to The Independent.
asserted
Luck → deserve → Independent
Prominent Republicans, meanwhile, are celebrating the clip as a decisive bombshell.
asserted
Republicans → celebrate → bombshell
Donald Trump Jr., the president’s oldest son, urged people to watch the video and “think about what it means.”
asserted
it → urge → what
Political commentator Dinesh D’Souza wrote that “when you’ve lost mom, it’s pretty safe to say you’ve lost the election.”
asserted
you → write → election
Far-right activist Laura Loomer, who has emerged as a close ally to the president, said “screw every Republican” who has condemned the ad and fired off several posts on X defending Ramaswamy.
asserted
who → emerge → Ramaswamy
“I am on the side of Amy’s mother,” Loomer wrote Tuesday.
asserted
Loomer → write → mother
“We are not handing our country over to the radical left because Amy Acton cried rape,” she said.
asserted
she → hand → rape
“You want to be in politics, you better be able to take the heat.
asserted
you → want → heat
I don’t care about Amy Acton’s childhood.”
asserted
I → care → childhood
…and 5 more, not listed.
The Aporia
