After Vivek Ramaswamy released an ad celebrating a woman accused of supporting a fugitive rapist, there was widespread agreement among pundits that it would backfire on him. Ohio’s Republican gubernatorial candidate trails Democratic opponent Dr. Amy Acton in the polls, in a race that threatens to turn Ohio’s long-term red state blue.
In a move that gave off an air of desperation, Ramaswamy’s campaign aired an ad featuring Acton’s elderly mother, Donna Arthur, calling her daughter a “liar” and suggesting she suffered from severe mental illness. But it didn’t take long for the record to be widely corrected, with a slew of media reports laying bare the facts in black and white: In 1978, Arthur sided with her husband, Clydes, when he was accused of raping his 12-year-old stepdaughter, Amy.
Acton has not seen her mother since the Arthur family fled Ohio nearly fifty years ago to escape justice. Her brother confirmed what Acton and court records showed, calling Ramaswamy’s campaign “despicable.” News that the Republican nominee was endorsing an abusive mother over her daughter quickly became a media story, leading many to predict that the ad would backfire on Ramaswamy.
However, MAGA leaders, including President Donald Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance, are stepping up efforts to promote the ad. At a campaign event in Cincinnati on Wednesday, Vance praised Ramaswamy for “having the audacity to do a TV ad to tell the truth,” even though there is no evidence that Acton lied about her rape and ample evidence (such as fleeing the state) that the Usher family did. Trump defended the ad on Wednesday, saying: “It’s very unusual for a mother to hate her daughter, but I don’t think it had anything to do with Vivek.”
The president escalated his rhetoric on Thursday, posting on The Truth Society that “let everyone hear the voice of the mother of a flawed, dishonest and incompetent candidate.” In Iowa on Thursday, Trump went a step further, saying Ramaswamy was “lucky” to be able to take advantage of the situation and that he should thank “God” for his favor.
MAGA media figures including The Daily Wire’s Ben Shapiro, Trump’s traveling companion Laura Loomer and Newsmax’s Greg Kelly also defended the ad. Podcaster Megyn Kelly praised Arthur for trying to expose her daughter’s “rough history,” citing an interview Arthur conducted with a woman convicted of trying to blow up an abortion clinic. During that conversation, Arthur complained that the last time she saw her daughter, in 1978, when she was 12 years old, was wearing clothing she considered immodest.
Ramaswamy’s campaign has pledged to spend $4 million on ads. The reason is grim political strategy. With Trump’s approval rating reaching record lows, Republicans believe their only hope of victory in the close midterm elections is to increase “MAGA” turnout. Demonizing teen rape victims may have a dual effect; it may inspire those currently attacking the anonymous accuser in the Cornell gang rape case.
But the framing of Ramaswamy’s ad also suggests that his campaign has another audience in mind: older “MAGA” voters who are furious about parental alienation.
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As I documented in an exhaustive 2024 report , right-wing media regularly report horror stories of adult children disowning their parents, a phenomenon blamed on therapists, progressive ideologies, and social decay that allegedly produce selfish children, but never the parents themselves. This year alone, Fox News has published multiple reports blaming “disconnection culture,” “social contagion,” “social media” and “ungrateful” children for causing parental alienation. Earlier this month, the conservative National Review chastised children who have no human contact because they are too poisoned by left-wing ideology to repay their parents’ so-called unconditional love. In September, the Wall Street Journal called it an “epidemic,” citing so-called experts who said children suffered from “self-deception,” “diminished skills in difficult conversations,” and ““Identity over family,” is often a euphemism for LGBTQ+ adults who refuse to hide their families to appease their families.
“No one takes into account what’s going on in many families that leaves children feeling like they would be better off with less or no contact,” explains political researcher Joshua Stein, who has followed parental alienation forums for years. Instead, there is an “online ecosystem of alienation experts” who often work through right-wing media, “engaging their services and stories by first assuring viewers that it’s not their fault.”
“This is the same politics of discontent that is at the heart of the American right,” he told me, noting that Acton’s case, while an extreme example, is not uncommon.
“Donna Arthur is a symptom of the reactionary political moral psychology of the right,” Stein said, noting that for the “reactionary right,” the concept of respect “is a one-way street.”
“Donna Arthur is a symptom of the reactionary political moral psychology of the right,” Stein said, noting that for the “reactionary right,” the concept of respect “is a one-way street.” In this view, “authority figures are entitled to respect regardless of their behavior” and “respect includes obedience to authority,” which often leads to excuses for child abuse.
While none of the estranged adult children interviewed by Salon in 2024 experienced sexual violence, many described how right-wing politics are deeply intertwined with parental control, cruelty and abuse. Some spoke of being severely beaten. Others’ parents want to dictate their romantic lives. A woman is thrust into a bad marriage at an early age. Another man described how his parents kicked him out because his girlfriend was of the “wrong” race or religion. One woman reported being denied medical care on religious grounds. Another mixed-race woman said her white mother made racist comments to her.
Stein found that in online forums for estranged parents, which tend to lean conservative, stories of children suffering abuse are often ignored. “The driving narrative of children’s exaggerated trauma is at the heart of the reactionary politics of alienation,” he explains, noting that Ramaswamy’s ad featuring Acton’s mother is “a manifestation” of this “worst-case scenario reasoning.”
Ramaswamy, Trump, Vance, and their advisers, all notorious for their frequent online presence, are almost certainly aware that the topic of parental alienation is top of mind for many MAGA voters, some of whom have experienced alienation or alienation from their own children, family, or friends, and are outraged by the thought of facing social consequences for their reactionary views. Much of the online reaction in right-wing spaces suggests this interpretation of the Republican base is accurate enough. On social media, many Republican voters defended Arthur and condemned Acton. Many of them appear to be elderly.
“Due to the alienation factor,” wrote one commentator in The Daily Telegraph, “I trust mum.” Many agreed.
“So telling the truth is a scary thing. A mother knows her child better than anyone,” one user posted on Facebook in response to a local news post about the ad. “Not all daughters are good daughters,” one agreed. “Our mothers know us best!!” added another.
To be clear, these attitudes are not common among Americans, and pollsters haven’t had a chance to judge whether Ramaswamy’s ads are paying off. But the strategy makes more sense if the goal is to galvanize Republican voters who may be feeling demoralized this cycle. There is widespread resentment among those on the right about being rejected for their political views, exemplified by Republicans complaining that liberals would not date a woman at a rally in Florida where Republican gubernatorial candidate Byron Donalds asked for a law forcing her to stay in touch with her “younger” daughter.
Donna Arthur’s ad aims to inspire this sense of entitlement and convince conservatives to use their votes to punish liberal family members and neighbors who shun them. That may not be enough to overcome the revulsion Ramaswamy inspires among voters with healthier attitudes about family and boundaries. Still, from the party that gives us “Haitians eat pets” and “LGBTQ kids poop in bins,” there’s really nothing too morally wrong to do if they think they can get votes for it.
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From Amanda Marcotte