“This Was Never a Good Idea”: Republican Infighting Reaches New Levels Amid Backlash to Ramaswamy’s “Cruel and Desperate”Ad

"This Was Never a Good Idea": Republican Infighting Reaches New Levels Amid Backlash to Ramaswamy's "Cruel and Desperate"Ad

October 28, 2026

Columbus, Ohio - New reporting from Zeteo revealed Republicans warned Vivek Ramaswamy about the likely backlash to his "cruel and desperate" attack ad featuring Dr. Amy Acton's estranged and abusive mother that was "never a good idea." The campaign chose to air it anyway, and Ramaswamy's campaign is more bogged down than ever by GOP infighting less than a week before Election Day.

Prominent Ohio Republicans, including Secretary of State Frank LaRose and Senator Jon Husted, have said they would not have run the ad. Republican Governor Mike DeWine called it "just wrong" and called on Ramaswamy to pull the ad down. Even Ramaswamy's own running mate, State Senate President Rob McColley, expressed reservations about the ad.

"Vivek Ramaswamy's campaign is falling apart as members of his own party run as far away from it as they can," said Ohio Democratic Party spokeswoman Katie Seewer. "Ramaswamy has divided his own party more than ever, less than a week before Election Day, as infighting among Republicans close to his campaign reaches a new level. Even his own party knows Ramaswamy is the wrong choice for Ohio."

READ MORE: Republicans Warned Vivek Ramaswamy His 'Rapist Protector' Ad Was a Terrible Idea

• Before Vivek Ramaswamy's now-infamous attack ad on his Democratic opponent leaked last week, multiple Republicans on and close to his campaign warned the Trump-endorsed Ohio GOP gubernatorial nominee that running this ad was a terrible idea - explaining it would very likely backfire on him, make Democrat Amy Acton seem more sympathetic to crucial median voters, and make him look cruel and desperate, people familiar with the matter tell Zeteo.

• Ramaswamy, of course, did it anyway.
• "It's siding with the rapist protector mom," a Donald Trump adviser says about the ad. "This was never a good idea," adds the adviser, who says they knew about the ad before it was first published online by the "Rooster" Ohio blogger.

• Two people with knowledge of the matter say that even the Ohio GOP's lieutenant governor candidate, Robert McColley, expressed reservations about the anti-Acton ad - though he is now forced to publicly defend it on the campaign trail. Other Republican sources familiar with the matter say that some of Team Vivek's own staff are personally, quietly outraged to the point they're tempted to resign - though they don't want to further risk Republican candidates' chances in the state this close to Election Day.

• In the aftermath of the ad going mega-viral, GOP skeptics of this approach appear to have been vindicated. Some prominent Republicans, including Ohio's outgoing GOP governor, Mike DeWine, have criticized the ad, though they've stopped short of rescinding their Ramaswamy endorsements. And as Zeteo reported this past weekend, venues that were booked to host the Ramaswamy-led Ohio GOP statewide bus tour, during the critical final days of this election, abruptly pulled out of the tour in the wake of the ad, or privately expressed reservations to tour organizers…

• Indeed, there has been no shortage of wholly justifiable fury in the days since the ad came out, and not just from Democrats or Acton's campaign. Ohio GOP and Trumpland sources say that anger within the party directed at Team Vivek and the Trump-backed nominee has ballooned, with several senior Republicans in the Buckeye State now predicting him losing in a race the GOP once thought to be unlosable, and potentially dragging down other parts of the Ohio Republican ticket with him.

• Sources tell Zeteo that some on the team wanted to vet the mother's story more but that Ramaswamy himself wanted to push forward.

• There are numerous influential players in the Ohio Republican Party and the national GOP and Trumpworld who privately vent to Zeteo that Team Vivek's ad is a disastrous, self-inflicted wound at a time when the party is hyper-anxious over the close, consequential races in the red Midwest state.

• Election Day is next Tuesday - and if Ramaswamy manages to lose to Acton (in a race that Ohio conservatives once considered a lock for Governor DeWine's GOP successor), these sources and many other elite Republicans are likely to erupt with even greater fury at Ramaswamy. And if Husted or other Ohio conservatives lose too, most - if not all - of these sources say they are prepared to shovel at least a good chunk of the blame on Ramaswamy.

• These Ohio Republicans obviously don't want to lose. But several of them say that one silver lining of Acton winning is that it likely means they'll never have to deal with Ramaswamy ever again, whom a decent number of them describe as simply "annoying."

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