俄亥俄州民主党州长候选人艾米·阿克顿（Amy Acton）的竞选团队周二猛烈抨击她的共和党对手维韦克·拉马斯瓦米（Vivek Ramaswamy），指控他的竞选团队利用她疏远的母亲敦促选民不要在胜负难分的竞选中支持她。她指责母亲虐待她，并支持对她进行性虐待的男子。
周一晚间，社交媒体上流传的一段似乎是竞选广告的视频显示，阿克顿的母亲唐娜·阿瑟（Donna Arthur）说，她爱自己的女儿，但补充说，“艾米有严重的问题”，并对她的过去撒谎。
美国广播公司新闻频道无法核实该视频的内容或真实性，该视频已被许多用户在网上分享，包括小唐纳德·特朗普。
拉马斯瓦米周二告诉记者，广告确实来自他的竞选活动，他认为这是“合法的”他说阿克顿的母亲没有得到赔偿。
“这是我们竞选活动的一个广告，我想说的是，我希望这场竞选和这次选举是关于影响俄亥俄州人的实质性问题，不幸的是，艾米·阿克顿一直在回避这些问题。她不会和我辩论，”他说。
在竞选广告中，亚瑟将她的女儿描述为一个“骗子”，说“她对自己的过去撒谎。”
“我的女儿需要帮助，如果她自己需要帮助，她也帮不了你，”亚瑟在视频中说。
记者无法立即联系到亚瑟置评。
阿克顿的兄弟菲利普·斯特恩斯批评拉马斯瓦米“令人作呕的攻击”。
斯特恩斯在一份声明中说：“维韦克·拉马斯瓦米堕落到如此卑劣的地步，试图将艾米在12岁时遭受的生母丈夫的性虐待变成一个政治话题，这并不奇怪。”。
“在他被捕后，艾米和我被剥夺了监护权，我们的生母一直与艾米的强奸犯结婚，直到他去世，”他补充说。
这不是亚瑟第一次公开指责她的女儿撒谎。
在2020年接受反堕胎访问团体采访时，亚瑟指责阿克顿的父亲说服他们的女儿撒谎。
当周二早些时候被问及该广告是在竞选团队知情或同意的情况下制作的时，Ramaswamy的发言人康妮·勒克（Connie Luck）周二发表了一份冗长的声明，但没有否认制作了该广告，也没有谴责该广告。
勒克在一份声明中说：“我们不知道艾米和她的母亲之间发生了什么，她的母亲在2020年首次公开谈论艾米，但我们知道艾米·阿克顿是一个连环寓言家，他对公众在决定委托谁担任州长之前需要了解的真相有一些严重的问题。”。
勒克的声明接着指责阿克顿“对维韦克和他的家人撒谎，对她自己的记录撒谎，然后逃避辩论”，并质疑她在疫情担任俄亥俄州卫生部主任时的行为。
“如果艾米不同意这些批评，她应该站在俄亥俄州人民面前，回答问题，让选民自己决定。她不会，而Vivek会，这一事实应该会告诉你关于谁真正在撒谎的一切，”Luck结束了她的陈述。
阿克顿在周二接受Spectrum News采访时反驳道。
“我不会把那些说我只是在抱怨我的童年的人正常化。今天，世卫组织刚刚发布了一则利用我生母的广告，我在12岁时因为严重的虐待、忽视和性虐待而离开了生母；我和我哥哥被搬走了，”她说。
周二晚些时候，竞选团队发布了一个视频广告，其中斯特恩斯回应了他对拉马斯瓦米的批评
“维韦克真可耻，”他说，并补充道，“这是他对艾米的蔑视。是他对俄亥俄州的蔑视。他不适合领导。”
阿克顿公开了她遭受虐待的经历并寻求治疗，她也公开谈到了她与母亲的混乱关系。
2019年，当阿克顿第一次被任命为俄亥俄州卫生部主任时，在接受《扬斯敦维护者》采访时，她描述了一个“失控”的童年，与母亲和哥哥以及母亲约会的“角色”在不同的房子之间穿梭。
她声称她母亲的第二任丈夫在她9岁至12岁时猥亵过她。对她的继父提出了指控，阿克顿作证指控他。
1978年8月的一篇报纸文章证实了阿克顿的叙述。
《青年镇维护报》上的文章描述了阿克顿的继父克莱迪斯·阿瑟“因涉嫌强奸一名12岁女孩而被移交给马洪宁县大陪审团”阿克顿出生于1966年，当时她12岁。
文章称他“在女孩父亲发起调查后，于8月4日在家中被捕。”
克莱迪斯·亚瑟于2004年去世。在指控之后，他和阿克顿的母亲仍然保持婚姻关系。
“在他们被指控后的法庭上，我去亲了她一下，她只是把脸转过去。那是我最后一次见到她，”阿克顿在2019年关于她母亲的采访中说。“我很幸运，它变得足够糟糕，因为它让我离开了那里。”
阿克顿的父亲获得了监护权，她认为是监护权改变了她的生活。后来，她以全班第一名的成绩高中毕业，成为返校节皇后，并成为一名医生。
拉马斯瓦米还因发表被视为对对手经历不屑一顾的评论而受到批评，他说阿克顿“只谈论发生在她身上的事情”，而不是传递积极的信息。
Amy Acton campaign slams Ramaswamy over controversial ad featuring estranged mother
Ohio Democratic gubernatorial candidate Amy Acton＇s campaign slammed her GOP opponent Vivek Ramaswamy Tuesday， alleging his campaign used her estranged mother， whom she has accused of abusing her and standing by the man who sexually abused her， to urge voters not to support her in the toss-up race．
A video that appears to be a campaign ad circulated on social media late Monday showing Acton＇s mother， Donna Arthur， saying that she loves her daughter， but adds， ＂Amy has a serious problem＂ and has lied about her past．
ABC News has not been able to verify the content or authenticity of the video， which has been shared by many users online， including Donald Trump Jr．
Ramaswamy told reporters on Tuesday that the ad did come from his campaign and that he viewed it as ＂legitimate．＂ He said that Acton＇s mother was not compensated．
＂It is an ad from our campaign， and the thing that I want to say is that I would love for this race and this election to be about the substantive issues that impact Ohioans， and unfortunately， Amy Acton has been hiding from those issues． She won＇t debate me，＂ he said．
In the campaign ad， Arthur describes her daughter as a ＂liar，＂ saying， ＂She lies about her past．＂
＂My daughter needs help， and she can＇t help you if she needs help herself，＂ Arthur says in the video．
Arthur couldn＇t immediately be reached for comment．
Acton＇s brother， Philip Stearns， criticized Ramaswamy over the ＂disgusting attack．＂
＂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，＂ 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，＂ he added．
This is not the first time Arthur has publicly accused her daughter of lying．
In an interview with an anti-abortion access group in 2020， Arthur accused Acton＇s father of convincing their daughter to lie．
When asked earlier Tuesday if the ad was made with the campaign＇s knowledge or consent， Connie Luck， a spokesperson for Ramaswamy， released a lengthy statement Tuesday， but did not deny making the ad or denounce it．
＂We don＇t know what happened between Amy and her mother， who first 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，＂ Luck said in a statement．
Luck＇s statement went on to accuse Acton of ＂lyingabout Vivek and his family， lying about her own record， and then hiding from debates，＂ and questioning her actions during the pandemic when she was the director of the Ohio Department of Health．
＂If Amy disagrees with these criticisms， she should stand before the people of Ohio， answer the questions， and let voters decide for themselves． The fact that she won＇t， and Vivek will， should tell you everything about who＇s really lying，＂ Luck ended her statement．
Acton pushed back in an interview with Spectrum News Tuesday．
＂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 and sexual abuse； my brother and I were removed，＂ she said．
The campaign released a video ad later Tuesday where Stearns echoed his criticism over Ramaswamy
＂Shame on Vivek，” he says， adding， ＂It＇s the contempt he has for Amy． It＇s the contempt he has for Ohio． He＇s not fit to lead．＂
Acton has been public about her experience with abuse and seeking therapy for it， She has also openly spoken about her tumultuous relationship with her mother．
In aninterviewwith the Youngstown Vindicator in 2019， when she was first appointed director of the Ohio Department of Health， Acton described a childhood that was ＂out of control＂， shuffling between houses with her mother and brother and the ＂cast of characters＂ her mother dated．
She alleged her mother＇s second husband molested her between the ages of 9 and 12． Charges were filed against her stepfather， and Acton testified against him．
A newspaper article from August 1978 corroborates Acton＇s account．
The article in theYoungstown Vindicatordescribes that Acton＇s stepfather， Cledith Arthur， was ＂bound over to the Mahoning County grand jury in connection with the rape of a 12-year-old girl．＂ Acton was born in 1966， making her 12 at the time．
The article says he was ＂arrested at his home on August 4thfollowing an investigation initiated by the girl＇s father．＂
Cledith Arthur died in 2004． He and Acton＇s mother remained married after the allegations．
＂In the courthouse after they were charged， I went to give her a kiss， and she just turned her cheek away． That was the last time I ever saw her，＂ Acton said in the 2019 interview about her mother． ＂I was lucky that it got bad enough， because it got me out of there．＂
Acton＇s father received custody， which she credited for turning her life around． She then graduated top of her class in high school， was homecoming queen， and became a doctor．
Ramaswamy has also been criticized for making comments seen as dismissive of his opponents＇ experiences， saying that Acton ＂only ever talks about something that happened to her＂ rather than having a positive message．
