Trump defends the Ramaswamy ad with Amy Acton’s mother: ‘You would love every inch of it’

Donald Trump has found the one campaign ad too ugly for Mike DeWine, and he wants it framed.

Walking out to Marine One on Thursday, he was asked why anyone should listen to Amy Acton’s mother, since Acton’s stepfather was indicted for raping her. “Well, I know nothing about it,” he said. Then he told them what he did know: “the mother said very bad things about Acton.” Asked whether anything in a campaign ad should be off limits, he gave his verdict: “And if it’s even a little bit true, you don’t want her as governor.”

Next, a reporter noted that Ashley Hinson, the Iowa Republican he was flying out to campaign for that night, had called the ad “absolutely terrible,” and asked why he was defending it. “I’m defending it because I know that if that ad were about my mother, you would love it. You would love every inch of it.” His late mother, Mary MacLeod Trump, got drafted into the hypothetical twice in five minutes.

Then a reporter spelled out the record: Acton’s mother stayed married to the stepfather accused of abusing her when she was 12. Trump’s follow-up question was “When did she make that statement?” And then: “I have no idea. All I know is Amy Acton’s mother said horrible things about Amy Acton ... And I say that she’s fair game.” He wasn’t done: “And I know one thing, if it were my mother, I’d be fair game.”

Here’s what he had no idea about. Court records show the stepfather was charged in July 1978 with raping Acton, then 12, and indicted that September. The couple left town, he spent years as a fugitive, and he died in 2004 without a trial. Her mother stayed married to him until he died, according to AP’s reporting and Acton’s brother. Acton has been telling this story in public since at least 2019, and the fact-checkers say the records back her up. The ad calls her a liar. The president calls her fair game.