Ohio venues cancel Vivek Ramaswamy events as backlash over acton advert grows

Venues in Ohio are pulling out of hosting Republican campaign events featuring gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy amid backlash over an advert featuring his Democratic opponent Amy Acton’s estranged mother, Newsweek reported.

The Old Dog Ale House & Brewery in Delaware canceled a GOP event with Ramaswamy on Friday, according to USA Today reporter Jessie Balmert. Elliot’s Wood Fired Kitchen in Newark said it would not host Tuesday’s planned event, and the state party’s bus tour website now lists that location as “to be announced.” Other venues that hosted weekend GOP events have received one-star Google reviews.
The advert features Acton’s mother, who calls her “a liar.” Acton has said she was sexually abused by her stepfather as a child and has not seen her mother since testifying against him at age 12.

Several Republicans have criticized the ad, though President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance have defended it. Sen. Jon Husted said he “would not have run that ad.”

Ramaswamy told a local newspaper the ad had “nothing to do with childhood abuse, sexual abuse,” but was about “a consistent track record of Amy Acton telling lies, including during this campaign.”
He called Acton “crazy, unstable and dishonest” on Fox & Friends. Polls show a shift toward Acton ahead of the November 3 election.